Prototype for the Perkin-Elmer Model 12 Infrared Spectrophotometer

• ca. 1943–1945
• Manufactured by the Perkin-Elmer Corporation
• 11.25 in. H x 26.875 in. W x 14.75 in. D
  Iron, steel, brass, glass
• On display in Making Modernity
• Gift of the Bodenseewerk Perkin-Elmer Museum of Instrumental Analysis, Überlingen, Germany
• Bodensee Collection
• 2002.003.045

Description

Spectrophotometers determine the composition of a solution (or the concentration of certain substances within a solution) by measuring how the solution absorbs a particular wavelength of light. By varying the wavelengths in each measurement, one can take a spectrum of a solution and ascertain the composition. More advanced spectrophotometers can measure beyond the visible spectrum, providing readings for ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths.