Experimental Study of the Absorption in Distilled Water, Artificial Sea Water, and Heavy Water in the Visible Region of the Spectrum*

Abstract

The absorption of light in distilled water, artificial sea water, and heavy water was measured in the visible region. A Nielsen spectrometer with glass optics was used with a tungsten source and photomultiplier detector. Path lengths were 60.0 and 132.0 cm. The absorption in distilled and artificial sea water differs little; maxima below 745 mμ were too weak to be observed. The absorption in heavy water is very small, increasing from a broad minimum at 700–600 mμ until at 390 mμ it is a factor of 10 larger than the minimum value.