Learning Outcomes By the end of this topic students should be able to: Explain the principles and the working mechanism of Infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy Identify the molecular species that absorb IR radiation Interpret IR spectrum Explain stretching and bending vibrations in relation to IR absorption Determine unknown qualitatively using IR absorption Draw a schematic diagram of a conventional IR instrument and a fourier transform IR instrument and explain the function of each component of the instrument Differentiate between a dispersive IR instrument and an FTIR spectrometer