spectrophotometer

noun

spec·​tro·​pho·​tom·​e·​ter ˌspek-trō-fə-ˈtä-mə-tər How to pronounce spectrophotometer (audio)
: a photometer for measuring the relative intensities of the light in different parts of a spectrum
spectrophotometric adjective
or less commonly spectrophotometrical
spectrophotometrically adverb

Examples of spectrophotometer in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web After snow fell, his crew rushed to remote sites by ski and helicopter, collected samples of the fresh snow, and carried them back to a clean lab for analysis with atomic absorption spectrophotometers. Kathryn Phillips, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019 One by one the mammals went under the spectrophotometer. Cara Giaimo, New York Times, 20 Oct. 2023 All the pieces of equipment, which include acoustic liquid handlers, spectrophotometers, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction instruments, and flow cytometers are accessible. IEEE Spectrum, 19 Mar. 2020 The team used a spectrophotometer to measure the relative redness of the owls’ belly plumage, and averaged these spectrophotometric values measured for all the owls from each geographic location. Dr Romano and his collaborators found that geographic origin influences barn owl plumage color. Grrlscientist, Forbes, 18 Apr. 2023 That limits people’s options to try this therapy out for themselves, since simply buying any green glasses available in a store does not guarantee the proper wavelength, which can only be tested with a spectrophotometer. Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 27 Oct. 2022 Gulur used commercially available glasses for the study and tested each with a spectrophotometer to ascertain exactly which wavelength of green light each pair produced. Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 27 Oct. 2022 Female tanagers are generally much duller than their male counterparts, an observation that the researchers confirmed with a spectrophotometer, which measures how much light reflects off a surface. BostonGlobe.com, 21 Apr. 2021 The Broad is helping renovate some of the labs and is supplying extra equipment to help them extract and store the DNA, including freezers and NanoDrop spectrophotometers, which measure the amount of DNA in a sample. Jeanne Whalen, WSJ, 25 June 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spectrophotometer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

spectro- + photometer, after French spectrophotomètre or German Spectrophotometer

First Known Use

1881, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of spectrophotometer was in 1881

Dictionary Entries Near spectrophotometer

Cite this Entry

“Spectrophotometer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spectrophotometer. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

spectrophotometer

noun
spec·​tro·​pho·​tom·​e·​ter ˌspek-trō-fə-ˈtäm-ət-ər How to pronounce spectrophotometer (audio)
: an instrument for measuring the strengths of the light in different parts of a spectrum

Medical Definition

spectrophotometer

noun
spec·​tro·​pho·​tom·​e·​ter ˌspek-trō-fə-ˈtäm-ət-ər How to pronounce spectrophotometer (audio)
: a photometer for measuring the relative intensities of the light in different parts of a spectrum
spectrophotometric adjective
spectrophotometrically adverb

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