Possible methods for measuring light absorption in optics experiment?

[lucas1]

So far my friends and I figured out that we will take a solution of chlorophyll, carotene and something else, then place it between white light and prism to see the spectrum on a screen. For a physical part of this experiment (there are also chemical and biological), we want to take photos of it, show which colors will be reflected and which the most. However my physics teacher said it can be accepted but it is not very ambitious. My idea is also to measure the percent absorption spectrum of particular substances, then draw a graph wavelength vs. percent absorption, but do You maybe know what device can be used to do it? Do You have any other ideas to make the experiment better?

 

[lucas1]

Come on I need some advice TODAY.

 

[Drakkith]

You might try taking a digital camera and photographing the spectrum before and after you put the solution in front of it. You'd have to make sure the exposure time in both pictures is exactly the same with no flash. Then you could compare the photos and try to determine how much light has been absorbed. I don't know if any basic programs can determine the pixel value in each picture, but that would make it easier as you could directly compare the average value of a group of pixels in each part of the spectrum. If you don't have a program that can do that, you could try to determine it yourselves. I really don't know if this will work or not, but it's an idea.