Slit
The slit of the spectrometer determines the angle and amount of light that enters the optical bench. Without the slit, the position of the spectral line would be spread over the range, and the wavelength cannot be calculated!
Collimating mirror
The collimating mirror reflects the beams of light, making them parallel before it reaches the diffraction grating. |
| Image from www.ibsenphotonics.com |
Diffraction grating/ Prism
The diffraction grating disperses the light, separating them into different wavelengths, forming the "rainbow" that can be imaged on the detector!Diffraction grating contains many lines, so that it bends light waves when it hits that grating. Different wavelengths of light bend in different ways, so it splits the light into its colors.
Some spectrometers bends light using a prism, when light reaches the prism, the speed of the light waves decrease by different amounts and thus split into different colors.
