Conducted by David W. Ball, Ph.D.
Author of Spectroscopy's popular Baseline column

Are you in the dark about spectroscopy? Come see the light!

This audio seminar CD will present the fundamentals of light, matter, and how they interact: in other words, spectroscopy.

Along the way, we will see how spectroscopy is inherently a quantum-mechanical phenomenon (but don't let that scare you off!), how different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum interact with matter in different ways, and what you can learn using each type of spectroscopy. We will see examples of the many different types of spectroscopy and discuss what information each one provides.

This audio seminar CD will be conducted by Dr. David W. Ball. Dr. Ball is a Professor of Chemistry at Cleveland State University and is the author the “Baseline” column in Spectroscopy.

Specific areas that will be covered include:

• Basic concepts of spectroscopy
• The spectrometer
• The spectrum
• Possible applications
• Questions and answers regarding spectroscopy

By the end of the hour, you should have a better understanding not just how light and matter interact, but how spectroscopy might be a tool you can use to improve and optimize your systems and processes. It may even help you enhance and advance your career. A detailed outline follows below.

Spectroscopy 101: Discovering the Basic Concepts

Part I
Basic concepts of spectroscopy

• Matter
• Light
• Interaction of matter and light

Part II
The spectrometer

• Absorption/emission spectrometers
• Fourier transform spectrometers
• Magnetic resonance spectrometers

Part III
The spectrum

• Quantum mechanics (the “Dr. Seuss” version)
• Atomic and molecular behaviors probed by light
• Spectra as a plot of intensity vs. property of light

Part IV
Possible applications

• Identification of components
• Concentration of components
• Quality control
• Diagnostics

David W. Ball, Ph.D.

Dr. David Ball is most widely known as the author of Spectroscopy's popular Baseline column. As editor of this column for over ten years, Dr. Ball has contributed more than thirty installments of practical advice to practicing spectrometers. His columns have been collected and republished as "The Basics of Spectroscopy," available through SPIE Press. Dr. Ball is a Professor of Chemistry at Cleveland State University (CSU). He gained experience in infrared spectroscopy at Rice University in Houston and in UV-visible/magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in Berkeley, California. He has been at CSU for fifteen years, performing research in vibrational spectroscopy and computational chemistry. Dr. Ball has written over 100 publications, evenly split between research papers and educational articles and is the author of four books. In 2002, Dr. Ball was honored with the Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award at CSU.