absorption band

American  

noun

Physics.

1. a dark band in the absorption spectrum of a substance, corresponding to a range of wavelengths for which the substance absorbs more strongly than at adjacent wavelengths.

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Etymology

Origin of absorption band

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

absorption band

For many applications, a narrow absorption band may be desirable.

From Nature ● Dec. 11, 2012

Then Dr. Sinton hitched a supersensitive infra-red detector to Harvard's 61-in. telescope and looked for the same absorption band in sunlight reflected from Mars.

From Time Magazine Archive

His first step was to look for this absorption band in infra-red light reflected from dry leaves, lichens and mosses, which are made almost entirely of carbon-hydrogen compounds.

From Time Magazine Archive

The bluish shades of eosine colors, on the contrary, have an absorption band further in the yellow.

From Scientific American Supplement, No. 530, February 27, 1886 by Various

Only very thin layers are sufficiently transparent to show the dispersion near or within an absorption band, and a large refracting angle is not required, the dispersion usually being very considerable.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5 "Dinard" to "Dodsworth" by Various