Kirchhoff's Laws
These are a set of rules for remembering when and why one should observe a continuous spectrum of light, an emission spectrum, and/or an absorption spectrum. Solid bodies or dense gases or liquids give off continuous spectra. Thin cool gas will absorb certain wavelengths of a continuous spectrum of light producing an absorption spectrum. Warm gas emits certain wavelengths producing an emission spectrum. The specific wavelengths emitted or absorbed is uniquely determined by the chemical makeup of the gas.
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