1400-CH10 9/8/99 4:17 PM Page 369

Chapter 10 Spectroscopic Methods of Analysis

369

10A Overview of Spectroscopy

The focus of this chapter is photon spectroscopy, using ultraviolet, visible, and infrared radiation. Because these techniques use a common set of optical devices for
dispersing and focusing the radiation, they often are identified as optical spectroscopies. For convenience we will usually use the simpler term spectroscopy in
place of photon spectroscopy or optical spectroscopy; however, it should be understood that we are considering only a limited part of a much broader area of analytical methods. Before we examine specific spectroscopic methods, however, we first
review the properties of electromagnetic radiation.

10A.1 What Is Electromagnetic Radiation

Electromagnetic radiation, or light, is a form of energy whose behavior is described
by the properties of both waves and particles. The optical properties of electromagnetic radiation, such as diffraction, are explained best by describing light as a wave.
Many of the interactions between electromagnetic radiation and matter, such as absorption and emission, however, are better described by treating light as a particle,
or photon. The exact nature of electromagnetic radiation remains unclear, as it has
since the development of quantum mechanics in the first quarter of the twentieth
century.3 Nevertheless, the dual models of wave and particle behavior provide a useful description for electromagnetic radiation.
Wave Properties of Electromagnetic Radiation Electromagnetic radiation consists
of oscillating electric and magnetic fields that propagate through space along a linear path and with a constant velocity (Figure 10.1). In a vacuum, electromagnetic
radiation travels at the speed of light, c, which is 2.99792 108 m/s. Electromagnetic
radiation moves through a medium other than a vacuum with a velocity, v, less than
that of the speed of light in a vacuum. The difference between v and c is small
enough (< 0.1%) that the speed of light to three significant figures, 3.00 108 m/s,
is sufficiently accurate for most purposes.
Oscillations in the electric and magnetic fields are perpendicular to each other,
and to the direction of the waves propagation. Figure 10.1 shows an example of
plane-polarized electromagnetic radiation consisting of an oscillating electric field
and an oscillating magnetic field, each of which is constrained to a single plane.
Normally, electromagnetic radiation is unpolarized, with oscillating electric and

Electric field

Magnetic field

Direction
of
propagation

Figure 10.1
Plane-polarized electromagnetic radiation
showing the electric field, the magnetic
field, and the direction of propagation.