Waters 2414 Refractive Index Detector

WavelengthThe refractive index of a medium has a specific value that changes with thewavelength of the incident light beam. The 2414 refractive index detector usesmonochromatic light at a fixed wavelength, so the effect of differentwavelengths of light on RI is not discussed in this guide.DensityThe density of the medium also affects its RI. At a fixed wavelength, therelationship between the density of a medium and its RI is generally, but notnecessarily, linear. The most important of the factors that affect the density ofa medium are:• composition• temperature• pressureThe following figure illustrates the effect of density on the RI of two solutions.The refractive index of a sucrose solution changes linearly with concentrationover this range of compositions, but a methanol solution exhibits a nonlinearregion between concentrations of 45 and 55%.Operating principles 1-3