7: Spectroscopy
- Page ID
- 20181
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Most of what we know about the structure of atoms and molecules comes from studying their interaction with light (electromagnetic radiation). Different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum provide different kinds of information as a result of such interactions. Realizing that light may be considered to have both wave-like and particle-like characteristics, it is useful to consider that a given frequency or wavelength of light is associated with a "light quanta" of energy we now call a photon.