Dictionary of Meaning
<<Back
Please select a letter:
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
0-9
Click here for Shopping
Spectroscopy
*** Shopping-Tip: Spectroscopy
Image:High_Resolution_Solar_Spectrum.jpg fraunhofer lines.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|300px|Extremely high resolution spectrum of the Sun showing thousands of elemental absorption lines ([[fraunhofer lines).html" title="Meaning of right|300px|Extremely high resolution spectrum of the Sun showing thousands of elemental absorption lines ([[fraunhofer lines">thumb|right|300px|Extremely high resolution spectrum of the Sun showing thousands of elemental absorption lines ([[fraunhofer lines)">right|300px|Extremely high resolution spectrum of the Sun showing thousands of elemental absorption lines ([[fraunhofer lines">thumb|right|300px|Extremely high resolution spectrum of the Sun showing thousands of elemental absorption lines ([[fraunhofer lines)
'''Spectroscopy''' is the study of
frequency spectrum spectra, that is, the dependence of physical quantities on
frequency.
Spectroscopy is often used in physical and analytical
chemistry for the identification of substances, through the spectrum emitted or absorbed. A device for recording a spectrum is a
spectrometer. Spectroscopy can be classified according to the physical quantity which is measured or calculated or the measurement process.
Spectroscopy is also heavily used in
astronomy. Most large telescopes have spectrographs, which are used either to measure the chemical composition and physical properties of astronomical objects or to measure their velocities from the
Doppler shift of spectral lines.
Physical quantity measured
The type of spectroscopy depends on the physical quantity measured. Normally, the quantity that is measured is an amount or intensity of something.
*The intensity of emitted
electromagnetic radiation and the amount of absorbed
electromagnetic radiation are studied by
electromagnetic spectroscopy (see also
cross section).
*The amplitude of macroscopic vibrations is studied by
acoustic spectroscopy and
dynamic mechanical spectroscopy.
*Kinetic energy of particles is studied by
electron energy loss spectroscopy and
Auger electron spectroscopy (see also
cross section).
*The mass-to-charge ratios of
molecules and
atoms are studied in
mass spectrometry, sometimes called ''mass spectroscopy''. Mass spectrometry is more of a measuring technique (metric) than an observation (scopic) technique but can produce a spectrum of masses, a
mass spectrum, similar in appearance to other spectroscopy techniques.
*The number of molecules or atoms or quantum-mechanical states to which the frequency or energy parameter applies. In this case the spectrum is usually called
cross section.
Measurement process
Different types of spectroscopy use different measurement processes:
'''Three main types of spectroscopy'''
'''
Absorption spectroscopy''' uses the range of electromagnetic spectra in which a substance absorbs. In atomic absorption spectroscopy, the sample is atomized and then light of a particular frequency is passed through the vapour. After calibration, the amount of absorption can be related to the concentrations of various metal ions through the
Beer-Lambert law. The method can be automated and is widely used to measure concentrations of ions such as
sodium and
calcium in blood. Other types of spectroscopy may not require sample atomization. For example,
UV/Vis spectroscopy ultraviolet/visible (UV/ Vis) absorption spectroscopy is most often performed on liquid samples to detect molecular content and
IR spectroscopy infrared (IR) spectroscopy is most often performed on liquid, semi-liquid (paste or grease), dried, or solid samples to determine molecular information, including structural information.
'''
Emission spectroscopy''' uses the range of electromagnetic spectra in which a substance radiates. The substance first absorbs energy and then radiates this energy as light. This energy can be from a variety of sources, including collision (either due to high temperatures or otherwise), and chemical reactions.
'''Scattering spectroscopy''' measures certain physical properties by measuring the amount of light that a substance scatters at certain wavelengths, incident angles, and polarization angles. Scattering spectroscopy differs from emission spectroscopy due to the fact that the scattering process is much faster than the absorption/emission process. One of the most useful applications of light scattering spectroscopy is
Raman spectroscopy.
'''Common types of spectroscopy'''
Image:Fluorescent lighting spectrum peaks labelled.gif fluorescent lights.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|300px|Spectrum of [[fluorescent lights showing prominent mercury peaks..html" title="Meaning of right|300px|Spectrum of [[fluorescent lights">thumb|right|300px|Spectrum of [[fluorescent lights showing prominent mercury peaks.">right|300px|Spectrum of [[fluorescent lights">thumb|right|300px|Spectrum of [[fluorescent lights showing prominent mercury peaks.
'''
Fluorescence spectroscopy'''
Fluorescence spectroscopy uses higher energy
photons to excite a sample, which will then emit lower energy photons. This technique has become popular for its biochemical and medical applications, and can be used for
confocal microscopy,
fluorescence resonance energy transfer, and
fluorescence lifetime imaging.
'''
X-ray spectroscopy''' and '''
X-ray crystallography'''
When X-rays of sufficient frequency (energy) interact with a substance, inner shell electrons in the atom are excited to outer empty orbitals, or they may be removed completely, ionizing the atom. The inner shell "hole" will then be filled by electrons from outer orbitals. The energy available in this de-excitation process is emitted as radiation (fluorescence) or will remove other less-bound electrons from the atom (Auger effect). The absorption or emission frequencies (energies) are characteristic of the specific atom. In addition, for a specific atom small frequency (energy) variations occur which are characteristic of the chemical bonding. With a suitable apparatus, these characteristic X-ray frequencies or Auger electron energies can be measured. X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy is used in chemistry and material sciences to determine elemental composition and chemical bonding.
X-ray crystallography is a process in which X-rays are shone onto crystals at a certain angle. The wavelength of the X-rays is known and so the distance apart of the crystal planes can be calculated. Combining all information enables crystal structure to be detected.
=Flame Spectroscopy
=
Liquid solution samples are aspirated into a burner or nebulizer/burner combination, desolvated, atomized, and sometimes excited to a higher energy electronic state. The use of a flame during analysis requires fuel and oxidant, typically in the form of gases. Common fuel gases used are
acetylene (Ethyne) or
hydrogen. Common oxidant gases used are
oxygen,
Earth's atmosphere air, or
nitrous oxide. These methods are often capable of analyzing metallic element analytes in the
part per million, billion, or possibly lower
concentration ranges. Light detectors are needed to detect light with the analysis information coming from the flame.
*'''Atomic Emission Spectroscopy''' - This method uses flame excitation; atoms are excited from the heat of the flame to emit light. This method commonly uses a total consumption burner with a round burning outlet. A higher temperature flame than atomic absorption spectroscopy (AA) is typically used to produce excitation of analyte atoms. Since analyte atoms are excited by the heat of the flame, no special elemental lamps to shine into the flame are needed. A high resolution
polychromator can be used produce an emission intensity vs.
wavelength spectrum over a range of wavelengths showing multiple element excitation lines, meaning multiple elements can be detected in one run. Alternatively, a
monochromator can be set at one wavelength to concentrate on analysis of a single element at a certain emission line. Plasma emission spectroscopy is a more modern version of this method. See
Flame emission spectroscopy for more details.
*'''
Atomic absorption spectroscopy''' (often called AA) - This method commonly uses a pre-burner nebulizer (or nebulizing chamber) to create a sample mist and a slot-shaped burner which gives a longer pathlength flame. The temperature of the flame is low enough that the flame itself does not excite sample atoms from their ground state. The nebulizer and flame are used to desolvate and atomize the sample, but the excitation of the analyte atoms is done by the use of lamps shining through the flame at various wavelengths for each type of analyte. In AA, the amount of light absorbed after going through the flame determines the amount of analyte in the sample. A graphite furnace for heating the sample to desolvate and atomize is commonly used for greater sensitivity. The graphite furnace method can also analyze some solid or slurry samples. Because of its good sensitivity and selectivity, it is still a commonly used method of analysis for certain trace elements in aqueous (and other liquid) samples.
*'''Atomic Fluorescence Spectroscopy''' - This method commonly uses a burner with a round burning outlet. The flame is used to solvate and atomize the sample, but a lamp shines light at a specific wavelength into the flame to excite the analyte atoms in the flame. The atoms of certain elements can then
fluoresce emitting light in a different direction. The intensity of this fluorescing light is used for quantifying the amount of analyte element in the sample. A graphite furnace can also be used for atomic fluorescence spectroscopy. This method is not as commonly used as atomic absorption or plasma emission spectroscopy.
=Plasma Emission Spectroscopy
= - in some ways similar to flame atomic emission spectroscopy, it has largely replaced it.
*Direct-current plasma (DCP)
*
ICP-AES Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES)
*
Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS)
*Laser-induced plasma
*Microwave-induced plasma (MIP)
'''Spark or arc (emission) spectroscopy''' - is used for the analysis of metallic elements in solid samples. For non-conductive materials, a sample is ground with graphite powder to make it conductive. In traditional arc spectroscopy methods, a sample of the solid was commonly ground up and destroyed during analysis. An electric arc or spark is passed through the sample, heating the sample to a high temperature to excite the atoms in it. The excited analyte atoms glow emitting light at various wavelengths which could be detected by common spectroscopic methods. Since the conditions producing the arc emission typically are not controlled quantitatively, the analysis for the elements is qualitative.
Nowadays, the spark sources with controlled discharges under an argon atmosphere allow that this method can be considered eminently quantitative, and its use is widely expanded worldwide through production control laboratories of foundries and steel mills.
=Visible spectroscopy
=
Many atoms emit or absorb visible light. In order to obtain a fine line spectrum, the atoms must be in a gas phase. This means that the substance has to be vaporised. The spectrum is studied in absorption or emission. Visible absorption spectoscopy is often combined with UV absorption spectroscopy in
UV/Vis spectroscopy.
=UV spectroscopy
=
All atoms absorb in the UV region because photons are energetic enough to excite outer electrons. If the frequency is high enough,
Photoionisation takes place.
=Infra-red spectroscopy
=
Infrared spectroscopy offers the possibility to measure different types of interatomic bond vibrations at different frequencies. Especially in
Organic chemistry the analysis of IR absorption spectra shows what type of bonds are present in the sample.
=Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy
=
NMR spectroscopy analyzes certain atomic nuclei to determine different local environments of
hydrogen,
carbon, or other atoms in the
molecule of an
organic compound or other
chemical compound compound. This is used to help determine the
chemical structure structure of the compound.
=Photoemission spectroscopy
=
'''Less frequently used / combined spectroscopy'''
*
Raman spectroscopy uses the inelastic scattering of light to analyse vibrational and rotational modes of molecules. The resulting 'fingerprints' are an aid to analysis.
*
Raman_optical_activity Raman Optical Activity spectroscopy exploits Raman scattering and optical activity effects to reveal detailed information on chiral centres in molecules.
*
Fourier transform is an efficient method for collecting various spectra. The use of Fourier transform in spectroscopy is called
Fourier transform spectroscopy. Nearly all infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (
Nuclear magnetic resonance NMR) spectroscopy are performed with Fourier transforms.
*Spectroscopy of matter in situations where the properties are changing with time is called
Time-resolved spectroscopy.
*Spectroscopy using an
Atomic force microscope AFM-based analytical technique is called
Force spectroscopy.
*
Dielectric spectroscopy
*
Circular Dichroism spectroscopy
*
Cavity ring down spectroscopy
See also
*
Atomic spectroscopy
*
Astronomical spectroscopy
*
Coherent spectroscopy
*
Rotational spectroscopy
*
Vibrational spectroscopy
*
Infrared spectroscopy
*
Rigid rotor
*
Electron spin resonance EPR spectroscopy
*
Spectral power distributions
*
Metamerism (color)
*
Spectral reflectance
*
Spectrophotometry
*
Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)
*
Cross section
*
Scattering theory
*
UV/VIS spectroscopy
External links
-
The Science of Spectroscopy - supported by NASA, includes OpenSpectrum, a Wiki-based learning tool for spectroscopy that anyone can edit
-
Atomic Emission Spectroscopy
-
A Short Study of the Characteristics of two Lab Spectroscopes
-
High-resolution transmission molecular absorption database (HITRAN) browser - Browse the HITRAN 2004 database , plot absorption lines by position or intensity.
-
NIST government spectroscopy data
-
Quantum Chemistry I Lecture
Category:Spectroscopy *
Category:Analytical chemistry
Category:Scattering
Category:Observational astronomy
ca:Espectroscòpia
cs:Spektroskopie
da:Spektroskopi
de:Spektroskopie
et:Spektroskoopia
es:EspectroscopÃa
fr:Spectroscopie
it:Spettroscopia
he:ספקטרוסקופיה
hu:Spektroszkópia
nl:Spectroscopie
ja:分光法
no:Spektroskopi
nn:Spektroskopi
pl:Spektroskopia
pt:Espectroscopia
ru:СпектроÑ?копиÑ?
simple:Spectroscopy
sr:СпектроÑ?копија
su:Spéktroskopi
fi:Spektroskopia
sv:Spektroskopi
uk:СпектроÑ?копіÑ?
'''Spectroscopy''' is the study of
Spectrum (disambiguation) spectra.
{{catmore}}
Category:Atomic physics
Category:Optics
Category:Analytical chemistry
Category:Measurement
Category:Physical chemistry
de:Kategorie:Spektroskopie
nl:Categorie:Spectroscopie
pl:Kategoria:Spektroskopia
ru:КатегориÑ?:СпектроÑ?копиÑ?
uk:КатегоріÑ?:СпектроÑ?копіÑ?
*** Shopping-Tip: Spectroscopy