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A demonstration of the 589 nm D 2 (left) and 590 nm D 1 (right) emission sodium D lines using a wick with salt water in a flame. The Fraunhofer C, F, G′, and h lines correspond to the alpha, beta, gamma, and delta lines of the Balmer series of emission lines of the hydrogen atom. The Fraunhofer letters are now rarely used for those lines.
Spectral line shape or spectral line profile describes the form of an electromagnetic spectrum in the vicinity of a spectral line – a region of stronger or weaker intensity in the spectrum. Ideal line shapes include Lorentzian , Gaussian and Voigt functions, whose parameters are the line position, maximum height and half-width. [ 1 ]
A spectral line may be observed either as an emission line or an absorption line. Which type of line is observed depends on the type of material and its temperature relative to another emission source. An absorption line is produced when photons from a hot, broad spectrum source pass through a cooler material.
The absorption that occurs due to a transition between two states is referred to as an absorption line and a spectrum is typically composed of many lines. The frequencies at which absorption lines occur, as well as their relative intensities, primarily depend on the electronic and molecular structure of the sample.
A demonstration of the 589 nm D 2 (left) and 590 nm D 1 (right) emission sodium D lines using a wick with salt water in a flame The emission spectrum of a chemical element or chemical compound is the spectrum of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation emitted due to electrons making a transition from a high energy state to a lower energy state.
The classical example of a discrete spectrum (for which the term was first used) is the characteristic set of discrete spectral lines seen in the emission spectrum and absorption spectrum of isolated atoms of a chemical element, which only absorb and emit light at particular wavelengths. The technique of spectroscopy is based on this phenomenon.
The equivalent width of a spectral line is a measure of the area of the line on a plot of intensity versus wavelength in relation to underlying continuum level. It is found by forming a rectangle with a height equal to that of continuum emission, and finding the width such that the area of the rectangle is equal to the area in the spectral line.
An overview of absorption of electromagnetic radiation.This example shows the general principle using visible light as a specific example. A white light source—emitting light of multiple wavelengths—is focused on a sample (the pairs of complementary colors are indicated by the yellow dotted lines).