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hatnote|This article deals with the general meaning of "spectrum" and the history of its use. For other meanings and specific uses, see Spectrum (disambiguation) .A spectrum (plural spectra or spectrums http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/spectrum Dictionary.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language , Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. (accessed: January 25, 2008).) is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a Continuum (theory)|continuum . The word saw its first scientific use within the field of optics to describe the rainbow of colors in visible light when separated using a triangular prism (optics)|prism ; it has since been applied by analogy to many fields other than optics. Thus, one might talk about the spectrum of political spectrum|political opinion , or the spectrum of activity of a drug, or the autism spectrum . In these uses, values within a spectrum may not be associated with precisely quantifiable numbers or definitions. Such uses imply a broad range of conditions or behaviors grouped together and studied under a single title for ease of discussion.
In most modern usages of spectrum there is a unifying theme between extremes at either end. Some older usages of the word did not have a unifying theme, but they led to modern ones through a sequence of events set out below. Modern usages in mathematics did evolve from a unifying theme, but this may be difficult to recognize.
Origins
In Latin spectrum means "image" or " apparition ", including the meaning " Ghost#Terminology|spectre ". Spectral evidence is testimony about what was done by spectres of persons not present physically, or hearsay evidence about what ghost s or apparitions of Satan said. It was used to convict a number of persons of witchcraft at Salem, Massachusetts in the late 17th century. The word "spectrum" Spektrum was strictly used to designate a ghostly optical afterimage by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe in his Theory of Colours (book)|Theory of Colors and Arthur Schopenhauer|Schopenhauer in On Vision and Colors .
In the 17th century the word spectrum was introduced into optics , referring to the range of color s observed when white light was dispersion (optics)|disperse d through a prism (optics)|prism . Soon the term referred to a plot of light intensity (physics)|intensity or power (physics)|power as a function of frequency or wavelength , also known as a spectral density .
The term spectrum was expanded to apply to other waves , such as sound wave s that could also be measured as a function of frequency. The term now applies to any signal that can be measured or decomposed along a continuous variable such as energy in electron spectroscopy or mass to charge ratio in mass spectrometry . Spectrum is also used to refer to a graphical representation of the as a function of the dependent variable.
See also
commons category|Spectrum
Physical science
Electromagnetic spectrum
* Visible spectrum or optical spectrum, a subset of the electromagnetic spectrum
* Emission spectrum observed in light
* Absorption spectrum observed in light
Energy spectrum of a collection of particles (particle physics)
Frequency spectrum of a signal
Mass spectrum chemical analysis of atoms and molecules
