spectrometer
noun
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Definition of spectrometer
1 : an instrument used for measuring wavelengths of light spectra
2 : any of various analytical instruments in which an emission (as of particles or radiation) is dispersed according to some property (such as mass or energy) of the emission and the amount of dispersion is measured nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer
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Other Words from spectrometer
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adjective
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noun
Examples of spectrometer in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The rover known as Jade Rabbit operated for more than two years, and allowed researchers to investigate the moon’s surface remotely using spectrometers, and discover a new type of basaltic rock. — Mike Ives, New York Times, "As America Looks Inward, China Looks to Outer Space," 23 May 2018 Those machines, called gas-chromatography mass-spectrometers or GC-MS, can analyze the air to discover thousands of different molecules known as volatile organic compounds. — Andrea Soltoggio, Smithsonian, "Artificial Intelligence May Be Able To Smell Illnesses in Human Breath," 12 June 2018 The primary instrument on the Viking landers, a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer, used heat to try and find these molecules. — Ashley May, USA TODAY, "NASA may have burned best proof of life on Mars by accident over 40 years ago," 12 July 2018 With a mass spectrometer, such a spacecraft could better characterize the composition of the icy particles, and a very capable microscope might be able to detect organisms. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "Senior scientist argues that we should bypass Europa for Enceladus," 5 July 2018 Grooves in the pad directed water from the central and purest part of the core to instruments known as mass spectrometers that continuously measured the quantity of lead down to one hundredth of a picogram, which is one trillionth of a gram. — New York Times, "An Ice Core Reveals the Economic Health of the Roman Empire," 14 May 2018 With a combination of high-resolution cameras, stereo images, altimeters, and spectrometers, Mars Express has revealed Mars in new and fascinating ways. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "Mars Express has revealed the Red Planet in stunning new ways," 1 June 2018 In nearby labs, one group assembled micro-satellites, while another huddled around a spectrometer for a course in biomedicine. — The Economist, "Vladimir Putin’s latest pet project: a school for clever students," 26 May 2018 Among the four types of organic aerosols identified by the mass spectrometer, one was found mainly in the classroom. — Karen Kaplan, latimes.com, "This room was off-limits to smokers, but its air contained surprising amounts of 'thirdhand smoke'," 9 May 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'spectrometer.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for spectrometer
spectrometer
noun
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Medical Definition of spectrometer
1 : an instrument used for measuring wavelengths of light spectra
2 : any of various analytical instruments in which an emission (as of particles or radiation) is dispersed according to some property (as mass or energy) of the emission and the amount of dispersion is measured nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer
Other Words from spectrometer
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adjective
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noun
plural spectrometries
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