Key Differences Between Spectrometers and Spectrophotometers

“Spectrometer” is a general term for any instrument that measures how electromagnetic radiation interacts with matter. A spectrophotometer is a specific type of spectrometer designed to measure how much light is absorbed, reflected, or transmitted by a sample across a range of wavelengths. Both are critical quality assurance equipment in many industries, yet each has its distinct purposes and ideal applications. Exploring their traits and differences will help you determine which option best meets your unique business demands.

What Are Spectrometers?

This equipment quantifies the electromagnetic radiation within specific wavelengths, revealing helpful data about the sample, such as its composition, speed, and how it produces light.

Modern spectrometer types include the following:

• Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers that help biochemists evaluate the properties of organic molecules
• Optical spectrometers that measure the intensity of light at different wavelengths to analyze the optical properties of a sample
• Mass spectrometers that analyze a sample's molecular mass to help identify its molecular composition

How Do Spectrometers Work?

Spectrometers depend on a light source to pass energy onto a diffraction grating. The energy then contacts the grating, which helps separate it into specific wavelengths before the light meets the sample. As light reflects off of or passes through the substrate, a detector captures, measures, and forwards the exiting energy's data to the display.

Benefits of Spectrometers

Advantages of spectrometers include:

• Sensitivity: These advanced solutions can detect even trace amounts of many elements and compounds and minute variations within samples.
• Versatility: Spectrometers can quantify spectra from liquids, solids, and gases.
• Wide spectrum: Optical spectrometers can measure and quantify wavelengths beyond the visible spectrum, such as ultraviolet rays and infrared light.

Ideal Applications for Spectrometers

These solutions are essential in many industries and applications, such as:

• Life sciences
• Criminal forensics
• Material characterization
• Pollution monitoring
• Space exploration
• Water quality
• Agricultural analysis

What Are Spectrophotometers?

These advanced color-measuring solutions help manufacturers ensure consistency, quality, integrity, and conformance to industry standards and regulations.

There are several types of spectrophotometers on the market to serve different needs:

• Benchtop spectrophotometers that occupy a fixed location.
• In-line spectrophotometers that integrate into production lines for efficient analysis.
• Portable spectrophotometers for field measurement or production floor quality checks.

How Does a Spectrophotometer Work?

As a type of specialized spectrometer, spectrophotometers operate on a similar principle. Each contains:

• A light source
• Collimator
• Prism
• Wavelength selector
• Detector
• Display

These devices help quantify color by emitting light through the collimator, followed by the prism and the wavelength selector. The energy then passes through the sample or reflects off of it. The spectrophotometer collects spectral data — typically as percent reflectance or transmittance — before calculating color values based on the selected color scale. Operators can then compare the figures to verify that the sample's color is within the tolerated ranges, promoting quality and consistency.

Benefits of Spectrophotometers

This equipment offers many advantages in industries where color is tied to quality:

• Accuracy: Spectrophotometers are highly precise and accurate.
• Speed: The devices measure and report data in seconds, supporting facility efficiency.
• Versatility: They're compatible with multiple substrates, including those with varying consistencies, opacities, and surface textures. This trait makes them incredibly useful for various industries.
• Proactive issue detection: These solutions can reveal potential issues early in manufacturing processes to help minimize waste.

Ideal Industries and Applications for Spectrophotometry

Spectrophotometers are valuable across many industries and applications.

Food Production

Color is a primary determinant for consumers when considering food purchases. Product color can:

• Indicate higher food quality, nutrition, and freshness
• Hint at a food's flavor
• Reinforce branding
• Indicate that a food is safe to consume

Color is also key in grading certain foods, like tomatoes, and meeting applicable regulations. As a result, food producers and manufacturers rely on spectrophotometers to uphold their quality assurance and control programs. These devices provide accurate, objective color data to ensure the goods fall within accepted industry color tolerances and meet consumer quality expectations.

Plastics Manufacturing

Modern plastics manufacturers face unique color challenges. Consumers and regulatory bodies are increasingly pressuring for the inclusion of more recycled content — most of which contains optical brightening agents (OBAs) to help overcome the yellowness that occurs during processing. These OBAs and their concentration in the raw materials substantially influence the final color and batch-to-batch consistency.

Spectrophotometry scientifically determines color at every manufacturing stage, from raw material to finished goods. Producers can use their readouts to help develop accurate color formulations based on OBA concentration, detect where alterations occur, and proactively adjust processes to achieve consistency.

Pharmaceutical Analysis

Drug manufacturers have an obligation to ensure that their products are both safe and effective. Evaluating the color of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is crucial to that process, and to meeting various international regulations. Color measurements can help detect variations that could indicate impurities or degradation before the medication reaches distribution.

Spectrophotometers empower drug manufacturers with the quantitative API color analysis needed to identify subtle color differences, promoting higher safety and regulatory compliance.

Additional Applications

Spectrophotometry also delivers tangible value in other industries and applications, such as:

• Astronomy: These devices help astronomers estimate a star's age by analyzing its color. Spectrophotometers provide scientific chromatic and spectral data to pinpoint a star's composition and evolutionary stage.
• Botany and ecology: Portable spectrophotometric options are available for convenient, in-field sample color measurements that can identify vegetation more accurately than a visual comparison.
• Forensic sciences: Law enforcement professionals use spectrophotometry to quantify color in evidence like counterfeit currency, helping pinpoint details like which company manufactured a specific ink based on its color composition.

Find the World's Best Spectrophotometers at HunterLab

HunterLab has led the world in color measurement science for over 70 years and is the market's most trusted source of advanced spectrophotometers. Our solutions offer unparalleled versatility, with all major indices and color models built in. We've manufactured them to withstand modern industrial environments for years of performance and maximized value.

Browse our extensive lineup today, or contact our color experts for personalized ordering advice based on your application needs.