Have you ever heard of the term "magnetic spectrum"

[Leontas]

Hello to all. This is my first post. I hope here is the right place to post.

In a Greek secondary school book I found the term "magnetic spectrum" as the definition of the picture one get when we visualise the magnetic field. There is even a Greek Wikipedia page that I believe it comes from the same book. Here is the link to this page Magnetic spectrum. The definition striked me as rather awkward as I haven't seen anything similar before in Greek or English textbooks. Have you ever heard of the term magnetic spectrum? If yes where? Do you think is a valid definition or a source of confusion with terms as electromagnetic spectrum, Fourier spectrum, mass and energy spectrum meaning completely different things?

 

[Fred Wright]

I'm Greek illiterate but this appears to be a transliteration issue between the Greek language and the English language. The illustration shows the pattern of field lines around a bar magnet and I assume that the Greek word you have transliterated to "spectrum" indicates this pattern. To see how "magnet" and "spectrum" are used in English, Google "Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy".

 

[Bystander]

page Magnetic spectrum. The defi

The link is the standard "field picture" showing "lines of force;" googling "magnetic spectrum" yields (electro)magnetic spectrum; with one paywalled tidbit, https://arxiv.org/abs/1203.2605 . Given that that's a bit arcane for secondary school ...,

be a transliteration issue

has been moved and seconded.

 

[DrGreg]

For what it's worth, Google Translate translates the first sentence of that Greek Wikipedia article as

"Magnetic spectrum is the image that occurs when iron chains scattered on a sheet of paper, within a magnetic field, are magnetized and aligned linearly, taking the course of the magnetic dynamic lines exerted on it."​

Are there any Greek speakers here who know a better word than φάσμα to describe this? E.g. "γραμμές μαγνητικού πεδίου" which according to Google Translate means "magnetic field lines"?

 

[Leontas]

Thank you for your interest

Are there any Greek speakers here who know a better word than φάσμα to describe this? E.g. "γραμμές μαγνητικού πεδίου" which according to Google Translate means "magnetic field lines"?

I used to refer this as the "image of the magnetic field lines" to my students translated of course in greek and not as the "magnetic spectrum" as it is referred in the Greek textbook.
I expressed the same question to a Greek forum attended by many Greek teachers and they gave me an old Greek book reference. At least there is a reference but as far as I get it there is no similar English translated description for the same thing.

You be been very helpful.
Thank you

 

[anorlunda]

I wonder if it might be an error or a bad translation.

The electromagnetic spectrum refers to the range from radio to microwave to infrared to visible light to ultraviolet to gamma.

 

[Leontas]

I wonder if it might be an error or a bad translation.

The electromagnetic spectrum refers to the range from radio to microwave to infrared to visible light to ultraviolet to gamma.

Thank you.
English to Greek translation holds for:
Electromagnetic spectrum
Fourier spectrum
Energy spectrum
Mass spectrum etc with the same meaning to both languages.
The Greek word for all these is phasma either ilektromagnitiko, energeias, mazas etc
It seems that the term magnetic spectrum = magnitiko phasma has this special meaning only among Greek physics "the image of the magnetic fields lines". This led me to believe that it was a new term first cited in this Greek book. I guess that as it is not used in English bibliography it should be dropped from Greek textbooks too.

 

[anorlunda]

Be patient. There are many PF members who know a lot about science history. Perhaps one of them might have a better answer, but it might be a day or two until they read your question.

 

[Nik_2213]

Back when I had to do a heap of research on classic German syntheses {{ Sentences the length of the page, all verbs at the end, printed in eye-watering neo-Gothik 'Fraktur', yet ! }} my advisor (sic) warned me of, um, issues with unwary technical translation, offered some salutary tales.

IIRC, the classic was a UNESCO document on local irrigation and channel maintenance which referenced 'Water Goats'. Logically, these famously un-fussy eaters might be tethered for weed control along channels and ditches. Context was all wrong, though. Eventually, some-one figured it was a mis-translation of 'Hydraulic Ram', the variety whose natural oscillation uses water flow to pump a proportion to higher ground...

 

[sophiecentaur]

In a Greek secondary school book I found the term "magnetic spectrum" as the definition of the picture one get when we visualise the magnetic field.

If you cannot easily find a particular term elsewhere that's used in your book then the term is probably the wrong one.
Secondary School books are not the best place to find highly reliable information or the best use of Scientific terms. If a schoolbook uses a word that doesn't make things clear about a topic then you have to go to another source for the required information - meaning that you may need a higher level of source. Internet searching is often a better way of resolving things than hopeful posts on a forum (even PF) because you risk getting showered with stuff that tries to be helpful but may not be too relevant.
You are very fortunate these days, that you have so many available sources when a few decades ago, you had your textbook, Brittanica or a few old books in the local library. Otoh, you also have access to loads of total rubbish on the Internet; it's a 'two edged sword'. Learn to hone your searching skills and always be prepared to look again and again.