The determination of sodium, potassium, magnesium, manganese and calcium in cement by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry

Abstract Various aspects of the determination of sodium, potassium, magnesium, manganese and calcium in cement by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry are described. For the determination of sodium, potassium and magnesium, both the calibration curve method and the addition method were found suitable because of the linear relationship between absorption and concentration. For the determination of manganese and calcium, the calibration curve method was found suitable. The calibration curves for sodium and potassium must be prepared to contain the same concentration of calcium as the analysed samples. The method is rapid, and no preliminary separations are necessary. The precision for the determination of sodium, potassium, magnesium and manganese is satisfactory, but is insufficient for calcium because of the large calcium content of cement.