Question

The spectrophotometer really measures the percent of light that is transmitted through the solution. The instrument then converts %T (transmittance) into absorbance by using the equation you determined in the prelab section. If the absorbance of a sample is 0.85, what is the percent of light transmitted through the colored sample at this collected wavelength?

Answer 1

The absorbance and transmittance are related by the equation written below:

A = 2 - log(%T)
where 
A is the absorbance
T is the transmittance

Substituting A=0.85, we can solve for %T:

0.85  = 2 - log(%T)
%T = 14.13%

Therefore, at this specific wavelength, 14.13% of the light is transmitted through the solution. The rest are absorbed.