absorption spectrum

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A spectrum of absorption lines or bands, produced when light from a hot source, itself producing a continuous spectrum, passes through a cooler gas.

n.

The electromagnetic spectrum, broken by a specific pattern of dark lines or bands, observed when radiation traverses a particular absorbing medium.

a spectrum produced when electromagnetic radiation is absorbed by a sample. The frequencies of the radiation absorbed are those able to excite the atoms or molecules of the sample from their ground states to excited states. The frequency, ν, at which a particular absorption line occurs depends on the energy difference, ΔE, between that of a particular ground state and that of the corresponding excited state. It is given by ν = ΔE/h, where h is the Planck constant. Compare emission spectrum.

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For a list of words related to absorption spectrum, see:

• Optics - absorption spectrum: continuous spectrum of energy absorbed by gaseous atoms of element as white light passes through it

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