Spectronic 20 is a colorimeter. Spectronic 20 is a brand name of a colorimeter.

Dear Ashokkumar ,

It's just a matter of naming.

The Spectronic 20 is sometimes referred to as a colorimeter (Buie, John July 13, 2011. "Evolution of UV-Vis Spectrophotometers". Lab Manager. Jarnutowski, R.; Ferraro, J. R.; Lankin, D. C. (1992). "Fifty years of commercial instrumentation in absorption spectroscopy, part II. Landmark instruments in UV/vis". Spectroscopy. 7: 22–24, 26.) The name of the instrument is a trademark of the manufacturer SPECTRONIC 20 + and SPECTRONIC 20D + User Guide (PDF). Thermo Fisher Scientific. 2007. p. 1.

Regards

Bachir ACHOUR

Nicely explained by Dr. Singh and Dr. Achour.

In spectronic 20 we can able to measure optical density where as in colorimeter we measure color intensity

Dear Ashokkumar,

A colorimeter is a device used in colorimetry. In scientific fields the word generally refers to the device that measures the absorbance of particular wavelengths of light by a specific solution. This device is commonly used to determine the concentration of a known solute in a given solution by the application of the Beer–Lambert law, which states that the concentration of a solute is proportional to the absorbance.

This is also what the spectronic 20 can do. The Spectronic 20 is a unique spectrophotometer beam mark, designed to operate in the visible spectrum over a wavelength range of 340 nm to 950 nm, with a spectral bandwidth of 20 nm. It is designed for quantitative measurement of absorption at individual wavelengths. Because it measures the transmission or absorption of visible light through a solution. The Spectronic 20 reports two types of measurements: percent transmittance and absorbance. It is sometimes called colorimeter.

Regards

Bachir ACHOUR

Very good discussions, following.

Thanks for informative discussion

Spectrophotometers use wavelength dispersive separation of the incident light whereas colorimeters use filters

Optics filters are used in the colorimeter to select the wavelength which the solute absorbs the most, in order to maximize accuracy

A Spectronic 20 is capable of measuring % transmittance and absorbance over the range of 340 to 950 nm (the range 600 to 950 nm requires also a special infrared filter and a different lamp).

Generally, Filter-based spectrometers, or often simply called filter spectrometers, use one or more absorption or interference filters to transmit the selected range of wavelength.

Regards

Bachir ACHOUR

Colorimeter (colori = color, meter = measurement) i.e measurement of color intensity of a compound by using optics filter, a band of light. On the other hand, Spectrophotometer (Spectro = a specific wave length of light (photo) intensity, mteter = measurement. Analysis by spectrophotometer is more accurate than colirimeter. These are the basic differences between the two.