spectrum (redirected from Fortification spectrum)

spectrum, arrangement or display of light or other form of radiation separated according to wavelength, frequency, energy, or some other property. Beams of charged particles can be separated into a spectrum according to mass in a mass spectrometer (see mass spectrograph). Physicists often find it useful to separate a beam of particles into a spectrum according to their energy.

Continuous and Line Spectra

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.

The Quantum Explanation of Spectral Lines

The explanation for exact spectral lines for each substance was provided by the quantum theory. In his 1913 model of the hydrogen atom Niels Bohr showed that the observed series of lines could be explained by assuming that electrons are restricted to atomic orbits in which their orbital angular momentum is an integral multiple of the quantity h/2π, where h is Planck's constant. The integer multiple (e.g., 1, 2, 3 …) of h/2π is usually called the quantum number and represented by the symbol n.

When an electron changes from an orbit of higher energy (higher angular momentum) to one of lower energy, a photon of light energy is emitted whose frequency ν is related to the energy difference ΔE by the equation ν=ΔE/h. For hydrogen, the frequencies of the spectral lines are given by ν=cR (1/n_f²−1/n_i²) where c is the speed of light, R is the Rydberg constant, and n_f and n_i are the final and initial quantum numbers of the electron orbits (n_i is always greater than n_f). The series of spectral lines for which n_f=1 is known as the Lyman series; that for n_f=2 is the Balmer series; that for n_f=3 is the Paschen series; that for n_f=4 is the Brackett series; and that for n_f=5 is the Pfund series. The Bohr theory was not as successful in explaining the spectra of other substances, but later developments of the quantum theory showed that all aspects of atomic and molecular spectra can be explained quantitatively in terms of energy transitions between different allowed quantum states.

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spectrum

Arrangement according to wavelength (or frequency) of electromagnetic radiation. The visible, “rainbow” spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible as light to the human eye. Some sources emit only certain wavelengths and produce an emission spectrum of bright lines with dark spaces between. Such line spectra are characteristic of the elements that emit the radiation. A band spectrum consists of groups of wavelengths so close together that the lines appear to form a continuous band. Atoms and molecules absorb certain wavelengths and so remove them from a complete spectrum; the resulting absorption spectrum contains dark lines or bands at these wavelengths.

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spectrum

The range of electromagnetic radiation (electromagnetic waves) in our known universe, which includes visible light. The radio spectrum, which includes both licensed and unlicensed frequencies up to 300 GHz has been defined worldwide in three regions: Europe and Northern Asia (Region 1); North and South America (Region 2), and Southern Asia and Australia (Region 3). Some frequency bands are used for the same purpose in all three regions while others differ. See satellite bands and optical bands.

Higher Frequencies
Frequencies above 40 GHz have not been licensed, but are expected to be made available in the future as the technology is developed to transmit at these smaller wavelengths (higher frequencies). The spectrum can be viewed in meticulous detail from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) by visiting www.fcc.gov/oet/spectrum and www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/osmhome.html. See electromagnetic radiation and wave.

Should Airwaves Be Licensed?
There is a great deal of controversy over the licensing of frequencies. In Kevin Werbach's very educational white paper, "Radio Revolution," the author says an artificial scarcity has been created because policy makers do not understand the technology. He states that many believe the traditional policy of dividing the airwaves into licensed bands now impedes progress because today's radio technologies allow for much more sharing of the spectrum than ever before. The old notion that radio waves interfere with and cancel each other is a false one. Waves just mix together and become more difficult to differentiate, but modern electronics can, in fact, separate them.

To obtain a copy of this insightful report written in 2003, as well as other related articles, visit Werbach's Web site at www.werbach.com. See smart radio.

Visible Light

Our eyes perceive a tiny sliver of the electromagnetic spectrum. The wavelengths from (approximately) 400 to 750 nanometers provide us with our physical view of the universe.

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spectrum

1. the distribution of colours produced when white light is dispersed by a prism or diffraction grating. There is a continuous change in wavelength from red, the longest wavelength, to violet, the shortest. Seven colours are usually distinguished: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red

2. the whole range of electromagnetic radiation with respect to its wavelength or frequency

3. any particular distribution of electromagnetic radiation often showing lines or bands characteristic of the substance emitting the radiation or absorbing it

4. any similar distribution or record of the energies, velocities, masses, etc., of atoms, ions, electrons, etc.

5. another name for an afterimage

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Spectrum

The term spectrum is applied to any class of similar entities or properties strictly arrayed in order of increasing or decreasing magnitude. In general, a spectrum is a display or plot of intensity of radiation (particles, photons, or acoustic radiation) as a function of mass, momentum, wavelength, frequency, or some other related quantity. For example, a β-ray spectrum represents the distribution in energy or momentum of negative electrons emitted spontaneously by certain radioactive nuclides, and when radionuclides emit α-particles, they produce an α-particle spectrum of one or more characteristic energies. A mass spectrum is produced when charged particles (ionized atoms or molecules) are passed through a mass spectrograph in which electric and magnetic fields deflect the particles according to their charge-to-mass ratios. The distribution of sound-wave energy over a given range of frequencies is also called a spectrum. See Sound

In the domain of electromagnetic radiation, a spectrum is a series of radiant energies arranged in order of wavelength or of frequency. The entire range of frequencies is subdivided into wide intervals in which the waves have some common characteristic of generation or detection, such as the radio-frequency spectrum, infrared spectrum, visible spectrum, ultraviolet spectrum, and x-ray spectrum.

Spectra are also classified according to their origin or mechanism of excitation, as emission, absorption, continuous, line, and band spectra. An emission spectrum is produced whenever the radiations from an excited light source are dispersed. An absorption spectrum is produced against a background of continuous radiation by interposing matter that reduces the intensity of radiation at certain wavelengths or spectral regions. The energies removed from the continuous spectrum by the interposed absorbing medium are precisely those that would be emitted by the medium if properly excited. A continuous spectrum contains an unbroken sequence of waves or frequencies over a long range. Line spectra are discontinuous spectra characteristic of excited atoms and ions, whereas band spectra are characteristic of molecular gases or chemical compounds. See Atomic structure and spectra, Electromagnetic radiation, Line spectrum, Molecular structure and spectra, Spectroscopy

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Spectrum - ZX Spectrum