What is Spectrometer: Definition and 173 Discussions

A spectrometer () is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure spectral components of a physical phenomenon. Spectrometer is a broad term often used to describe instruments that measure a continuous variable of a phenomenon where the spectral components are somehow mixed. In visible light a spectrometer can separate white light and measure individual narrow bands of color, called a spectrum. A mass spectrometer measures the spectrum of the masses of the atoms or molecules present in a gas. The first spectrometers were used to split light into an array of separate colors. Spectrometers were developed in early studies of physics, astronomy, and chemistry. The capability of spectroscopy to determine chemical composition drove its advancement and continues to be one of its primary uses. Spectrometers are used in astronomy to analyze the chemical composition of stars and planets, and spectrometers gather data on the origin of the universe.
Examples of spectrometers are devices that separate particles, atoms, and molecules by their mass, momentum, or energy. These types of spectrometers are used in chemical analysis and particle physics.

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  1. S

    Lightsorce through spectrometer

    Homework Statement A light hits a spektrometer perpendicular into a gitter with 300 slits/mm. You observes that a red and a blue line (in Visual light) coinciding. And the angle deflectionis 24.5°. What wavelenght have the red and the blue lines. No n is given. Homework Equations d*sinα=n*λ...
  2. D

    Application of advanced spectrometer in geometrical optics?

    We have an advanced spectrometer in our geometrical optics lab! I'm seeking for any experiment in geometrical optics to include it!
  3. S

    Optics: Design of Beamsplitter Ge on KBr substrate

    Hi there, I am making a beam splitter for an FTIR, but I do not know the anatomy of a beamsplitter of this type, does anybody have information on the design of these? I plan to order KBr crystal windows and apply the Ge coating myself using physical vapor deposition and assuring quality with a...
  4. carlphysics30

    TOF (mass spectrometer) Analyzer Question

    Homework Statement An unknown hydrocarbon ion required 9.415*10^-6 seconds to travel through the 0.250 T magnetic field of a mass spectrometer with a radius of curvature of 14.1 cm. Since the magnetic chamber is shaped like a 'D' it only travels half way around the circle. a. find the speed...
  5. C

    Mass-to-Charge Ratio of an Ion in Mass Spectrometer

    Homework Statement Consider fields of 1.4e5 N/C and 2.7 T within a velocity selector. If the charge then exits and encounters a field of 1.4 T and radius of 2.4 mm within the mass spectrometer, what would be the mass to charge ratio of this ion? Homework Equations v = E/B m = qrB/V[/B] q =...
  6. F

    Drift tube ion mobility spectrometer

    Hello PF, thanks for having me here. I am working in chemistry and we are building a atmospheric pressure drift tube ion mobility spectrometer. The drift tube consists of 20 stacked stainless steel electrodes insulated by PTFE spacers connected via a resistor chain (voltage divider) to produce...
  7. O

    Number of protons and electrons

    How can I find the number of protons and neutrons of any element without looking the periodic table. And I need them each so mass spectrometer won't work Edit: I noticed that my title is wrong, explanation of the number of electrons are not needed
  8. D

    Carbon ions in Tandem Accelerator

    Hi all I'm new to this forum, there seem to be quite some knowledge here. I hope someone can help shed some light on this. I took this exam about a week ago and I had no idea on how to solve this question, and I haven't been able to figure this one out since. Homework Statement In a tandem...
  9. Evanish

    How can different types of plastic be cheaply and easily identified?

    From my reading various places online it seems that plastic recycling would benefit from a cheap and easy method for identifying different plastics. Resin codes can be used but they are definitely not easy. They require someone to search around on the product to find them. That takes a lot of...
  10. V

    Please, help with the experimental setup

    Hello Can someone, please, briefly describe or give a manual on how to use the spectrometer on the photo to measure an atomic spectrum. I tried to google that already, but failed. http://www.daviessports.co.uk/netalogue/600/A46395.jpg Deep thanks!
  11. H

    Why Can't Bainbridge Mass Spectrometers Use Multiple Detectors Simultaneously?

    Why is it not possible to use multiple detectors in a Bainbridge Mass spectrometer,so that we can record the intensity of each ionic species at the same time? I got this question because whenever i read about Time of flight mass spectrometer,i find that one of its advantages is listed as the...
  12. D

    Why ignore the magnetic field?

    Homework Statement Consider a simple mass spectrometer. The magnitude of the electric field between the plates of the velocity selector is 2 500 V/m and the magnetic field in both the velocity selector and the deflection chamber has a magnitude of 0.035 T. Calculate the radius of the path...
  13. U

    Grating Spectrometer - Bandpass

    Homework Statement Part (a): Find intensity distribution of N-slit grating Part (b): Find resolving power Part (c): Find an expression for Bandpass, and estimate its value. What value of slit width gives same bandpass as resolving power theoretically? Homework Equations The Attempt at a...
  14. S

    Hydrogen spectrum question

    Homework Statement Hello, I have a question regarding hydrogen spectral emission. A hydrogen source is viewed with a grating spectrometer, one spectral lines occurs at 20.5 degrees in the 1st order. What angle will this line appear in 2nd order (viewed through same spectrometer) a)...
  15. E

    A Mass Spectrometer Problem

    Homework Statement The whole problem statement is a bit involved, but it starts with a figure illustrating a mass spectrometer. You have the chamber the gas you want to study is pumped into, and an anode and cathode. An electron beam ionizes the gas, and the ions are accelerated towards the...
  16. E

    Observing Spectral Lines: The Highest Order & Color Sequence

    Homework Statement In a question I was asked, assuming a spectrometer reading of Hydrogen produced two strong spectral lines at 656.3nm and 410.1nm. And also assuming the diffraction grating had 500 lines/mm What is the highest order of spectrum which can be fully observed , i.e value of m...
  17. S

    Can Any Molecular Crystal Be Used in Bragg's X-Ray Spectrometer?

    In Bragg’s spectrometer used to determine the wavelength of X – rays why should we make use of only NaCl crystal,cant we use any other molecular crystal?:uhh:
  18. R

    Energy resolution of triple-axis spectrometer

    Hi, I have encountered the problem of energy resolution of neutron triple-axis spectrometer, which we haven't covered during our solid state physics lectures. I don't know where do we get the equation for the energy resolution from and even the numerical calculations in the solution seem...
  19. bcrowell

    Experimental searches for tachyons

    I'm working on an open-source textbook on special relativity. The text below is what I currently have on experimental searches for tachyons. There seems to have been quite a bit of work on this kind of thing in the 60's, but very little in more recent times. Does anyone know of any better...
  20. W

    Archived Spectrometer CCD Homework: Calculate Spectral Range for m=4

    Homework Statement A spectroscopist has a spectrometer equipped with a grating with 600 grooves/mm. This grating puts a 1228 nm wavelength range on a spectroscopic plate (a CCD) in order m = 5. The spectroscopist now changes the spectroscopic plate CCD by one that is larger by a factor of 3...
  21. Borek

    Mass spectroscopy and electromagnetic radiation

    Bear with me, I am a chemist :shy: As far as I understand, every accelerating charge emits electromagnetic radiation. In mass spectroscopy charged molecules/parts of molecules move in the magnetic field which bends their trajectories using Lorentz force. That means they are accelerated...
  22. A

    Fourier Series and Absorbtion questions?

    I have to do a science fair, and I am really interested in physics. I spent forever trying to think of a topic, and I got myself stuck doing something with waves. After weeks of thinking of an expirement that will compete well without being extremely difficult, I came up with one. Does using...
  23. G

    Best Written High School Physics Text Books (SAT)

    Advanced Physics (Advanced Science) by Steve Adams & Jonathan Allday from OUP Oxford: and Physics (Collins Advanced Science) 3rd Edition by Kenneth Dobson from Collins Educational: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0007267495/?tag=pfamazon01-20 Does anyone know any of these books? I find them very...
  24. E

    When is it ok to exclude data for a model to fit better?

    Hello people, I'm working on a research project involving the modelling of a black body's radiation spectrum, and near the limits of the spectrometer, the intensity goes to zero rather sharply. I cannot directly say it is error from the spectrometer, because I simply don't know. However, I...
  25. G

    Find the Wavelengths of Red and Blue Light in a Grating Spectrometer

    Homework Statement White light illuminates a 2-cm wide diffraction grating at normal incidence. The dispersed light falls upon a viewing screen. The entire first-order and second-order patterns are observed. The four arrows in the figure below represent the first- and second-order red and...
  26. P

    Trouble Collecting IR Spectrum of a-Si:H

    I am working on my thesis for my masters in physics, and am running into some issues while trying to gather an IR spectrum of my hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H). I am depositing my films using PECVD onto a glass microscope slide substrate. The films I have used so far have been 0.2-0.4...
  27. I

    Why can't I see fringes with eyepiece in my Michelson Interferometer?

    Hello Forum I have constructing a Michelson Interferometer using sodium light. For viewing the fringes, I have used spectrometer telescope with objective lens of 178mm focal length, 35mm dia and eyepiece 15X. I can see the localized fringes when I view through the objective glass but without...
  28. P

    Molecules under high electric field

    Hello fellow physics lovers, I wish to predict the behaviour of a organic molecule under an electric field (High Voltage). I wish to know how much E-field can this molecules withstand before being fragmented. Can anyone point toward a freeware than might compute such a field? It is...
  29. S

    An accelerated iron Ion moving through a mass spectrometer's field

    Homework Statement A sample of two different iron ions, Fe2+ and Fe3+, are accelerated by the same potential and then sent through the uniform magnetic field of a mass spectrometer. a) Which ion moves faster after being accelerated? b) Which ion follows the path with the largest radius...
  30. A

    Mass of a particle through a magnetic field

    Homework Statement In a mass spectrometer, the mass of charged objects is inferred from how much their trajectory curves when passed through a perpendicular magnetic field. A particle has a charge of q=1.602x10^-19 C and is traveling at v = 2.00x10^5 m/s in a perpendicular magnetic field of...
  31. J

    Measure optical power with spectrometer

    Hi all, I have only one spectrometer and 2 different light sources. I need to measure the optical power of the light sources. The spectrometer has a resolution of 8 nm. I measure the spectrum of each light source. And then calculate the optical power by integrating over the spectrum. My...
  32. W

    Difference and relationship between spectrometers and interferometers

    Q1. A spectrometer measures the optical power spectral density as a function of the wavelength or optical frequency (say F(v) v.s. v, where "v" is frequency), is this right? Q2. An interferometer can be used to detect the amplitude of a light source v.s. the path difference (x), i.e. if the...
  33. fsonnichsen

    Seeking Affordable Raytrace Software for Throughput

    This is somewhat of an extension of tosik's recent post. I work a bit with weak optical signals for PMTs and spectrometers and I am always trying to optimize the light collected by a system. Galilean collimators, grin lenses, Keplerian telescopes and other constructs are useful for capturing...
  34. S

    Question on vacuum heat treatment

    Hello. Currently I am doing a test on a vacuum heat treatment machine and came up with an unsolved problem for the past 2 months. I am out of clue and I’m here to hear everyone's opinion. Below are the steps what I did. 1) Vacuum chamber pumped down to 4.5E-04 Pa (Rotary + Mechanical booster...
  35. A

    X-Ray Spectrometer Lab: Atomic Number & X-Ray Absorption

    Hey! I'am doing a X-ray spectrometer lab, need some help regarding the absorption of x-rays by matter. one simple question, does material with higher atomic number stop more x-rays? I have following measurement values: no filter, 6k impulse rate/s 50 Sn, 111 impulse rate/s 30 Zn, 3173...
  36. mesa

    Does a charged particle rotate when traveling through a static Bf?

    I have been looking at mass spectrometers, in particular the interactions between the Bf ind of a charged particle in motion in a static Bf of the spectrometer. Figure 1 and 2 shown below are a basic 2 dimensional slice of the problem from the top (fig 1) and from the inside of the radius...
  37. mesa

    In a mass spectrometer what mediates the acceleration?

    R=mv/qB describes the radius of a charged particle moving through a static Bf with the acceleration directed radially inward. The cross product is used to calculate the Force that results in this acceleration. Why does the cross product work?
  38. M

    Solving for R in Atomic Spectroscopy | Get Homework Help and Tips

    Homework Statement For our lab, we looked through the spectrometer to find the spectral values for Helium, which after being plugged into an excel spreadsheet, yielded an equation which I could use to find the wavelengths for Hydrogen. We were told to solve for R, which I did. However, at the...
  39. C

    Reflection of a plane mirror at a focal point

    I am trying to interface a detector system to a FT-IR spectrometer. The spectrometer uses off-axis parabolic mirrors to focus light in the center of a sample compartment, where it diverges and again strikes an off axis parabolic mirror, focusing it on a detector. I would like to place a plane...
  40. P

    Calculation of thin film thickness from complex refractive index

    Hello, I want to ask how can one calculate the thickness of a thin film (or each of the thin films in a stack of 3-4 thin films on one another) when - complex refractive index of each thin film is known (n and k). This refractive index is obtained from a single wavelength ellipsometer and...
  41. W

    Absorption with UV/VIS spectrometer

    I need to characterize some colloids (extract the concentration of material inside). Why should I dilute the sample before measuring it with spectrometer?
  42. Astronuc

    Radiation Detection and Measurement, 4th Ed by Glenn F. Knoll

    Author: Glenn F. Knoll Title: Radiation Detection and Measurement Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470131489/?tag=pfamazon01-20 Prerequisities: Sophomore (2nd year uni) level courses in modern physics and EM, mathematics through differential equations, Level: Undergraduate...
  43. fsonnichsen

    Maximum Fluorescence Energy vs Excitation

    I have taken a time dependent fluorescence series of spectra for an ethylene glycol solution using a 532nm laser as the excitation source. I have attached the spectra to this post. Nothing looks unusual-there is a sharp notch near the 532nm line--this is due to a filter I have used to protect...
  44. Greg Bernhardt

    Meet a Mentor: Integral - Biweekly Series to Get to Know Your Wonderful Mentors

    Meet a Mentor is a biweekly (twice a week) series to help you get to know your wonderful Mentors better. Constructive questions and comments are welcome! Today we meet: Integral Can you give us a brief bio? I am a 2nd generation Oregonian born smack in the middle of the 20th century...
  45. V

    Quantum mechanics and an LED lab help

    so i have to do this lab for ib physics and i am a noob at physics and i am having some trouble with the lab that i have to do. Homework Statement the research question is "how does potential difference needed to operate an LED depend on the frequency of the light emitted? it is set up in...
  46. A

    Resolving Power of a collimated Littrow diffracting telescope

    Homework Statement Suppose a simplified telescope and grating spectrometer system: D is the telescope's primary diameter, W is the width of the collimated beam, β is the grating angle in a Littrow configuration, and \alpha is the aperture diameter in angular units on the sky. The goal is...
  47. K

    Difference between Chemical analysis and PMI

    Hi, What is the technical difference between chemical analysis and PMI(Positive material identification)? Is it different name only or chemical analysis is a separate test? I found that FRF analyser (X-Ray fluorescence technique) or Optical Emission spectrometer (spark type gun with ultra pure...
  48. M

    Finding the speed of a proton in a mass spectrometer

    Homework Statement A mass spectrometer uses either a magnetic field or an electric field to deflect charged particles. A proton starts from rest a plate P. The Speed of the proton as it passes through the hole in plate Q is? V= 10000 V Mass of a proton = 1.67x10^-27 Charge of a proton...
  49. L

    Archived Time estimation - mass spectrometer

    Hi everyone Homework Statement I want to separate isotopes of uranium with some kind of a mass spectrometer. The isotopes are Mass numbers 95 Atom numbers 235 and 238 Question: How long does it take to extract 1kg of the 235 isotope if I have a ray of charged ions (charge = e) when the...
  50. Drakkith

    Effect of Telescope Aperture Size on Spectrometer Resolution

    Does telescope aperture size have any effect on the resolution of a spectrometer?
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