Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Spectrometer
open-in-new
<p>A spectrometer is a scientific instrument used to separate and measure <a href="/facts/Spectrum/wPUjkpqI">spectral</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Visible_light/jeofpMn4">visible light</a> a spectrometer can separate white <a href="/facts/Light/jeofpMn4">light</a> and measure individual narrow bands of color, called a spectrum. A <a href="/facts/Mass_spectrometer/RH5WBHJ2">mass spectrometer</a> 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 <a href="/facts/History_of_spectroscopy/QTaGrHFv">developed</a> in early studies of <a href="/facts/Physics/a7aH2y08">physics</a>, <a href="/facts/Astronomy/0ArJVM1p">astronomy</a>, and <a href="/facts/Chemistry/SrNqkGVm">chemistry</a>. The capability of <a href="/facts/Spectroscopy/mj71FuNK">spectroscopy</a> to determine <a href="/facts/Analytical_chemistry/MHQf3YP6">chemical composition</a> drove its advancement and continues to be one of its primary uses. Spectrometers are used in <a href="/facts/Astronomical_spectroscopy/NDGQ7mmM">astronomy</a> to analyze the chemical composition of <a href="/facts/Astronomical_spectroscopy/NDGQ7mmM">stars</a> and <a href="/facts/Astronomical_spectroscopy/NDGQ7mmM">planets</a>, and spectrometers gather data on the <a href="/facts/Big_Bang/I5T1vTnv">origin of the universe</a>. </p><p>Examples of spectrometers are devices that separate <a href="/facts/Subatomic_particles/tMEzcTWQ">particles</a>, <a href="/facts/Atoms/FoQ4kGN5">atoms</a>, and <a href="/facts/Molecules/N9ljSfFq">molecules</a> by their <a href="/facts/Mass/HHdc8XmF">mass</a>, <a href="/facts/Momentum/TTkGv5eY">momentum</a>, or <a href="/facts/Energy/wd8PrQM7">energy</a>. These types of spectrometers are used in <a href="/facts/Analytical_chemistry/MHQf3YP6">chemical analysis</a> and <a href="/facts/Particle_physics/YgIuyj2t">particle physics</a>. </p>