• Question: When you are doing and teaching things about Spectroscopy do you learn new things about it too?

    Asked by Pretty_In_Pink to Andrew on 17 Nov 2014.
    • Photo: Andrew McKinley

      Andrew McKinley answered on 17 Nov 2014:

      Oh yes – there’s always something new to learn!

      The thing about spectroscopy is that it is such a broad discipline, it is not possible to be an expert in all of it; I am an ‘electronic spectroscopist’ – that means I look at the energies of electrons hopping around in molecules. This is what gives things colours.

      However, NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectroscopy is to do with the nucleus, and happens at much lower energy levels. I would say I have an awful lot to learn about NMR -not least to understand this joke:

      “Hey, what’s you’re favourite type of NMR?”
      “Oh, I only like it when it’s COSY. Why do you ask?”
      “Oh, it’s only because I’m NOESY”

      (explanation: COSY = COrrelation SpectroscopY, NOESY = Nuclear Overhauser Effect SpectroscopY. Unfortunately there’s no quick answer to what these mean, and I’m not sure I understand either that well either!)

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