What is the difference between a continuous spectrum an a line spectrum?

Answer 1

Dispersion, the separation of visible light into a spectrum, may be accomplished by means of a prism or a diffraction grating. Each different wavelength or frequency of visible light corresponds to a different color, so that the spectrum appears as a band of colors ranging from violet at the short-wavelength (high-frequency) end of the spectrum through indigo, blue, green, yellow, and orange, to red at the long-wavelength (low-frequency) end of the spectrum. In addition to visible light, other types of electromagnetic radiation may be spread into a spectrum according to frequency or wavelength. The spectrum formed from white light contains all colors, or frequencies, and is known as a continuous spectrum. Continuous spectra are produced by all incandescent solids and liquids and by gases under high pressure. A gas under low pressure does not produce a continuous spectrum but instead produces a line spectrum, i.e., one composed of individual lines at specific frequencies characteristic of the gas, rather than a continuous band of all frequencies. If the gas is made incandescent by heat or an electric discharge, the resulting spectrum is a bright-line, or emission, spectrum, consisting of a series of bright lines against a dark background. A dark-line, or absorption, spectrum is the reverse of a bright-line spectrum; it is produced when white light containing all frequencies passes through a gas not hot enough to be incandescent. It consists of a series of dark lines superimposed on a continuous spectrum, each line corresponding to a frequency where a bright line would appear if the gas were incandescent. The Fraunhofer lines appearing in the spectrum of the sun are an example of a dark-line spectrum; they are caused by the absorption of certain frequencies of light by the cooler, outer layers of the solar atmosphere. Line spectra of either type are useful in chemical analysis, since they reveal the presence of particular elements. The instrument used for studying line spectra is the spectroscope.

Answer 2

Continuous emission spectra is a rainbow. It is what happens when pure white light is sent through a prism. Bright line emission spectra are the wavelengths of light that are associated with a specific substance, acting as a chemical fingerprint.

Answer 3

Continuous spectra : Itis produced to the de-acceleration of high velocity electros when they are deflected while passing near the +vely charged nucleus of an atom of the target material.

Line Spectra : It is produced when electrons are dislodged from the innermost orbits of the atoms of the target material followed by electron jumps from outer orbits.

Answer 4

Continous spectra is the rainbow effect that you see when white light passes through a prism. It includes all of the visible light wavelengths, from about 380 nm to 780 or so.

Bright line spectra show only those colors that are emitted from a substance. Rather than seeing all of the wavelengths, you would see only those associated with that material; i.e. you might see a line at 450 nm, another at 610, and that could be it.

In a bright line spectra, you will see large areas of black broken up by the bright lines of color that identify the emitter. Each compound has it's own spectra, akin to a fingerprint. This is how we know what compounds are in the sun, stars, etc. We also use this to identify unknown compounds in the lab. (watch CSI or any of those - they always have a spectrum printout somewhere)

I've included a link below that shows some spectra http://www.Colorado.edu/physics/2000/qua…

Answer 5

If you plot a graph of intensity versus frequency (or wavelength) and get large regions of the graph where there is nothing, but nevertheless at certain values you get extremely narrow regions where you see an intensity, that is called a line spectrum because the picture just looks almost like a set of sharp lines. On the other hand if you find large regions where there is a nonzero value over a wide range, that is called a continuous spectrum. These terms are sometimes also used in other circumstances where you are plotting against other things, such as weight, or price etc etc for the same descriptive reasons.

Answer 6

From most purposes the electromagnetic spectrum is considered to be continuous. However it could be contended that all frequencies of 'light' are quantized into discrete values that are determined by plank's constant.

E=hv

where h (plank's constant) is an extremely small number which allows for very small differences in acceptable frequencies.

Planck's constant = 6.626068 × 10-34 m2kg/s

Answer 7

In atomic emission spectra, only radiation of certain wavelengths is emitted. The emission spectra is composed of discrete emission lines. In the continuous spectrum, radiation of all wavelengths is present, and there are no discrete lines or bands present.

Answer 8

A continuous spectrum has all wavelengths. This is not the case for a line spectrum as it has discrete lines at specific wavelengths.