Spectra of the Metals of the Alkalies & Alkaline Earths

2023-01-10T15:32:58-05:00

Chromo-lithograph of the Spectra of the Metals of the Alkalis and Alkaline Earths, from the Drawings of [Robert] Bunsen and [Gustav] Kirchhoff. With Scale of Wave-Lengths Added.

Through research conducted in the 1860's, German physicist Gustav Kirchhoff and chemist Robert Bunsen notably established a linkage between chemical elements and their unique spectral patterns and demonstrated that spectroscopy, the study of the interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation, could be used for trace chemical analysis.