spectral line

noun Optics.

a line in a spectrum due to the absorption or emission of light at a discrete frequency.

Origin of spectral line

First recorded in 1865–70

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

spectral line in Science

spectral line

[spĕk′trəl]

An isolated bright or dark line in a spectrograph produced by emission or absorption of light of a single wavelength, generally corresponding to a specific shift in the energy of an electron moving from one orbital to another.

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