Question

A flame can be used in both atomic absorption and atomic emission spectroscopy to atomize the sample. In which technique is a stable flame temperature more critical? Why?

Answer 1

Atomic Emission Spectroscopy

Step-by-step explanation:

The temperature of flame affects the following

1. The proportion of sample atomized
2. The level of energy electrons are excited to

For Atomic Absorbtion Spectroscopy (AAS), light originated from lamp with known spectral distribution is emited into atomized cloud of sample and then recieved at the detecto with some intensity loss in a certain spectral range due to atomic absorbtion according to Beer's law. The only thing that would be affected by the flame would be the number of sample atomized, which would affects signal intensity.

For Atomic Emission Spectroscopy (AES), however, atoms instead get excited by thermal energy from the flame, then relax, emitting photon of specific wavelength depending on energy gap of atoms. As temperature fluctuates, some atoms might gets excited to higher energy while some gets excited to lower energy, this would results in missing spectral line and inaccurate results.