spectrophotometer

(noun)

An instrument used to measure the intensity of electromagnetic radiation at different wavelengths.

Related Terms

Examples of spectrophotometer in the following topics:

  • Absorption of Light

    • When studying a photosynthetic organism, scientists can determine the types of pigments present by using a spectrophotometer.
    • Spectrophotometers measure transmitted light and compute its absorption.
    • By extracting pigments from leaves and placing these samples into a spectrophotometer, scientists can identify which wavelengths of light an organism can absorb.