Element story

Waves, light and spectra

A wave is a propagating disturbance that can transfer energy and information without requiring a net transport of matter over the same distance.

Start with the nucleus

A wave is a propagating disturbance that can transfer energy and information without requiring a net transport of matter over the same distance.

A wave is a propagating disturbance that can transfer energy and information without requiring a net transport of matter over the same distance.

Frequency, wavelength and propagation speed are linked; what oscillates locally depends on the kind of wave and its medium.

Spectroscopy studies how matter emits, absorbs or scatters electromagnetic radiation as a function of wavelength, frequency or energy.

Spectroscopy studies how matter emits, absorbs or scatters electromagnetic radiation as a function of wavelength, frequency or energy.

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Waves · Spectroscopy

Sources

EN · institutional/academic · IUPAC · NIST · BIPM