DETERMINATION OF CONCENTRATIONS OF SPECIES WHOSE ABSORPTION-BANDS OVERLAP EXTENSIVELY

The multivariate least-squares method can be used to obtain concentrations of components of mixtures using absorption spectrophotometry even when the absorption bands overlap extensively, as demonstrated by this experiment. The experiment is easy to perform once the software and hardware are set in place. This method can also be applied to any system in which a function of output is linear with concentration, such as overlapping Chromatographic peaks. The method has the added advantage that statistical analysis can be performed, so that predicted uncertainties are given along with the predicted concentrations.