Checking out the difference in spectra s1 and s2
If you're staring at a screen trying to figure out the difference in spectra s1 and s2, you're basically looking at the fingerprints of how a molecule handles a shot of energy. It's one of those things that seems simple on a textbook diagram—just two lines representing different energy states—but when you actually get into the lab or start analyzing data, it's a whole lot messier. Essentially, we're talking about electronic excited states, and the gap between S1 (the first excited state) and S2 (the second) tells us a ton about what a substance is doing with the light it absorbs. ...