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Grade 12Organic Chemistry

Sir,
It is a know fact that on increasing the concentration of the optically active substance, the rotation of the plane polarised light increases. Then how will the rotation of the plane polarised light while increasing the temperature, keeping concentration constant

Profile image of Bhubesh
11 Years agoGrade 12
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1 Answer

Profile image of Suraj Prasad
11 Years ago
Optical rotation is measured with an instrument called a polarimeter. There is a linear relationship between the observed rotation and the concentration of optically active compound in the sample. There is a nonlinear relationship between the observed rotation and the wavelength of light used. Specific rotation is calculated using either of two equations, depending on whether the sample is a pure chemical to be tested or that chemical dissolved in solution.

For pure liquids

This equation is used:



In this equation, α (Greek letter "alpha") is the measured rotation in degrees, l is the path length in decimeters, and ρ (Greek letter "rho") is the density of the liquid in g/mL, for a sample at a temperature T (given in degrees Celsius) and wavelength λ (in nanometers). If the wavelength of the light used is 589 nanometers (the sodium D line), the symbol “D” is used. The sign of the rotation (+ or −) is always given.