Episode 108: The constant deviation spectrometer
Técnico’s constant deviation spectrometer dates back to 1919 and its main purpose was the chemical analysis of elements. This instrument allows us to identify the type of light emitted by various chemical sources. By detecting the type of spectrum, it’s as if we were reading the barcode of the element itself. Gold, silver, oxygen, carbon…
Using the optical spectrometer, light can be broken down into its individual components, with colours corresponding to different frequencies or wavelengths, from red to blue. These fundamentals were crucial, for example, for astronomy research: it helped to see that the farther away the galaxy or star was, the more it shifted towards the red, which meant it was moving faster. If all the objects we see are moving away from each other, this means that the Universe is expanding, as if it were an explosion. Different from those that led to such conclusions but similar in fundamentals is the spectrometer that can be seen (working) in the Faraday Museum.
- Acknowledgements:
Gonçalo Tavares
João Mendanha Dias
Museu Faraday
Episode only available in Portuguese in: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Anchor.fm
Further reading and additional audio in the Portuguese version of this webpage.