Spectroscopy is the study of how matter interacts with waves (typically of electromagnetic nature - radiation). Such interactions often result in changes of the radiation, by which some waves are absorbed, others reflected, yet third created anew - emitted. By separating the waves by their wavelengths and observing the result, a spectrum is created, which can be, depending on the procedure beforehand, specific for different materials. Spectroscopy therefore allows us to study the properties of materials themselves, which is incredibly useful in various endeavors: research, medicine, food production, environment, industry, etc.
In this weeks review, we discuss some more common spectroscopy techniques, how the waves (we will be concentrating on light) are produced, separated and detected and what they can tell us about the samples they hit, or are produced by. The categories we will put our focus on, are:
Read more in the Spectroscopy chapter published on Github.