Atoms

Hi TonyThis is a very interesting thread. Here is my input from an analytical point of view. I have never really thought about this too hard until now but my conclusion is that the number of neutrons doesn't have a measurable (if any) effect on the wavelength of the photons emited by excited isotopes of the same element.In spectrometry, these wavelengths are used precisely to identify elements within a compound but they are unable to differentiate between different isotopes of any given element.It is possible that there may be an extremely small difference but it would most likely be lost in the noise of the system. The problem is that atoms in an excited state are far more energetic than those in an unexcited state. This means that the individual movement (brownian motion) of the atoms will always result in a slight spread in the emission spectra of each isotope (possibly due to red and blue shift doppler effects). The spread is extremely narrow but does make spectral lines a little fuzzy around the edges. In short there is no way to resolve the spectra tightly enough to distinguish any difference between isotopes of the same element.PY

Original content deleted as I thought I was answering a different thread Nadine. I was actuially unaware of that. Thanks for the info.However, to measure this difference would require some pretty fancy equipment and would well beyond the capability of most modern spectrometers used for regular analysis techniques.This message has been edited by PurpleYouko, 11-18-2005 03:39 PMThis message has been edited by PurpleYouko, 11-18-2005 03:45 PM

What kind of system is that?I am even now anxiously awaiting the delivery of a new ICPOES system from Perkin Elmer. Atomic absorption/emmision is a bit of a new field for me so I am not as well informed about this as some other forms of spectrometry such as Inorganic Mass Spec (my primary field)I was under the impression that run-of-the-mill absorption/emmision spectrometers would be pretty much unable to tell the difference between isotopes of the same element. They just don't make them with that kind of resolution normally.Or do I have it completely wrong?