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Water - Solubility - Ions

Instrumental Methods.

There are many instrumental methods
which can be used to identify elements and compounds.

These methods may be carried out automatically by machines
that give accurate and rapid results from very small samples.
It is important that the sample has the same composition as
the bulk of the material. Progress in electronics and computing
has helped the development of instrumental methods.

Information from the results is used by people looking at health,
drugs, the environment, astronomy, alloys and forensic science.
Forensic science is used to help the police and law courts
in finding out the truth when someone is accused of a crime.

Some machines separate a mixture and
identify the different substances.
See Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry.

Some machines measure how a substance
can absorb or emit electromagnetic radiation.

Examples of instruments measuring absorption are
Infra-red Spectroscopy and Ultraviolet Spectroscopy.
These methods are used to identify compounds.

An example of an instrument measuring emission is
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy.
This method is used to identify elements.

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