Advanced Topics
In a nutshell: Spectroscopy helps identify organic compounds and determine their structures.
## Seeing the Invisible
How do chemists know what they’ve made? Spectroscopy is the toolkit for identifying and analyzing organic molecules.
### Major Techniques
- **Infrared (IR) Spectroscopy**: Identifies functional groups by their vibrations.
- **Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy**: Reveals the arrangement of atoms.
- **Mass Spectrometry (MS)**: Measures molecular weights and fragments.
### Why It’s Important
These techniques let scientists confirm structures, detect impurities, and understand complex mixtures.
## In the Real World
Spectroscopy is vital in pharmaceuticals, forensics, and environmental monitoring.
Examples
- NMR spectroscopy is used to check the purity of drugs.
- Mass spectrometry helps detect banned substances in athletes.