§ The absorption of light by any absorbing material is governed by

two laws:
§ Lambert’s Law: When a beam of monochromatic radiation is
passed through a homogenous absorbing medium, the decrease in
the intensity of radiation with thickness of the solution is directly
proportional to the intensity of the incident light.
-dI/dt ∝ I
§ -ln(I) = kt+b -
(i)
§ Beer’s Law: It states that ‘The intensity of a beam of monochromatic
light decrease exponentially with the increase in concentration of
the absorbing substance.’
Arithmetically; -dI/dc ∝ I
I = I0.e-kc -
(ii)
§ The combination of (i) & (ii) gives
A = εcl
Lamber-Beer Law: A= ecl

Units of the molar extinction coefficient

§ concentration (c) - moles litre-1

§ pathlength (l) - cm

e = 1 ˛

mole litre-1 x cm

e = mole-1 litre x cm -1
Lambert-Beer’s Law: When a beam of monochromatic radiation is passed
through a homogenous absorbing medium, the rate of decrease of intensity
of incident radiation with the thickness of the solution is proportional to the
intensity of incident radiation as well as the concentration of the solution.
Mathematically, it can be expressed as
-dI/dx ∝ I
-ln(I) = kt+b
 Limitations of Beer Lambert Law: This law is not obeyed
(i) When polychromatic radiation is passed
(ii) When Different forms of the absorbing molecules are in
equillibrium
(iii) When fluorescent compounds are present
(iv) When solute and solvent form complexes
(v) When solution is highly concentrated (Deviations in
absorptivity coefficients at high concentrations (>0.01M)
due to electrostatic interactions between molecules in
close proximity
Q. 2.5 x 10-4 M solution of a substance in a 1 cm length cell at

lmax 245 nm has absorbance 1.17. Calculate emax for this

transition.
Q. When a UV light is passed through the given solution, the
radiant power is reduced to 50%. Calculate the absorbance.