A CD – cereal box spectrometer… Jerry writes –
A simple spectrometer can be built from a CD and a box. Cut a slit on one side of the box. Place the CD on the other side with about 60 degree angle. Look down into the openning on the box. The slit should not be too wide, otherwise the spectrum lines will be blurred. It should not be too narrow either, otherwise the spectrum is too dim. I use a 0.2mm wide slit.
8 thoughts on “A CD – cereal box spectrometer”
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Putting scare quotes around “spectrometer” betrays just a bit of ignorance on your part, Mr. Torrone. In any respectable chemistry laboratory, spectrometers are as commonly found and used as flat-head screwdrivers. Often, moreso. It is a perfectly promulent word.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectrometer
@A minor gripe… it was for emphasis not scare quote mongering. i’ve just made the title a link.
The word you’re looking for is: “cromulent”. “promulent” is just nonsense. You should embiggen your vocabulary by reading this: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cromulent
;) hehe
I thought a spectrometer identified the composition of substances by burning them and analyzing the spectrums put off by the flames. I have seen such charts cuz I knew a college professor years ago who used the process I am referring to to test the purity of certain black market substances that he had a preference for. I forget what the process is called (spectral analysis?) but that’s what I thought a spectrometer was.