A spectrometer is a tool that is used to examine a property of light as a function of its portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically its wavelength, frequency, or energy.
Technically, a spectrometer can perform over any range of light but mostly work in a particular region of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The spectrometer is a technique that is used to estimate the variation of a physical characteristic over a spectrum. In the case of the mass spectrometer, it is the mass to charge ratio spectrum.
In the NMR spectrometer, the variation of nuclear resonant frequencies. In the case of the optical spectrometer, the change in the absorption and emission of light with a wavelength.
Spectrometry is the analysis of the interactions between light and matter, and the reactions and measurements of radiation intensity and wavelength.
It is the method of measuring a specific spectrum and studying those spectrums. It are often used for the spectroscopic analysis of sample materials.
HISTORY
The study of spectrometry dates back to the 1600s when Isaac Newton first discovered that focusing light through glass split it into the various colors of the rainbow.
The spectrum is a visible aspect, but it took centuries of research to develop the study of this phenomenon into a coherent field that could be used to draw usable conclusions.
Scientist, William Hyde Wollaston, discovered the dark lines that were seemingly randomly placed along with the spectrum. Ultimately, it was determined that these were the after-effects of the absorption of chemicals in the earth’s atmosphere.
Each component reacts somewhat differently in this process.
Some components are visible (those on the 390-700mm wavelength that are detectable to the human eye) and some components are invisible (like infrared or ultraviolet waves, which are outside the visible spectrum).
As each atom resembles and may be represented by an individual spectrum, we can use the analysis of wavelengths within the light spectrum to analyze them, quantify physical properties, and examine chemical chains and reactions from their framework.
A spectrometer analyzes the wavelength and frequency of light and allows us to identify and analyze the elements in a sample.
In their most simplistic form, spectrometers act like a complex form of diffraction, somewhat similar to the play of light that happens when white light hits the tiny cavities of a DVD or other compact disk.
Light is passed from a source to a diffraction grating (much like an artificial Fraunhofer line) and onto a mirror. As the light emitted by the source is characteristic of its atomic composure, diffracting and mirroring first disperses, then the light reflects. The wavelength into a format that we can detect and quantify.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SPECTROMETRY AND SPECTROSCOPY
Spectroscopy is that the science of studying the interaction between matter and electromagnetic wave energy. It is the study of absorption of some characteristics of matter, or absorption behavior of matter when it is subjected to electromagnetic radiation. Spectroscopy doesn’t produce any results. It is the theoretical approach to science.
On the other hand, spectrometry is the technique that is used to obtain a quantitative analysis of the spectrum.
In the spectroscopy, we can use different types of light sources:
• Continuum sources produce a broad, featureless range of wavelengths.
• Black and gray bodies, high-pressure arc lamps.
• Line sources generate narrow bands at specific wavelengths and generate structured emission spectrum.
• Lasers, low-pressure arc lamps, hollow cathode lamps.
• Line plus continuum sources include lines superimposed on continuum background.
• Medium pressure arc lamps, Deuterium lamp.
Sources could also be continuous or pulsed in time.
It is the practical application where results are generated. It is helping in the quantification of absorbance, optical density, or transmittance.
In a simple form, spectroscopy is that the theoretical science, and spectrometry is that the practical measurement within the balancing of matter at atomic and molecular levels.
Spectroscopy include:
• To identify the chemical structure and temperature and velocity of objects in space then, we can use unique spectra.
• It can be used for metabolite screening and analyzing the structure of the drugs.
• It is used for measuring sampled chemicals or nanoparticles through their mass-to-charge ratio using a mass spectrometer.
