Spectrum of light emitted by a deuterium lamp showing a discrete part tall sharp peaks and a continuous part smoothly varying between the peaks.
Light source continuous spectrum.
When an absorption spectrum and emission spectrum are combined you get a continuous spectrum with all the wavelengths.
In order to fully understand continuous spectrum chemistry it is important to discern electromagnetic spectrum white light is a continuous spectrum but this is only part of a larger electromagnetic spectrum that contains radio waves infrared rays microwaves ultraviolet gamma rays and x rays.
Stars and stellar spectra.
As a consequence these sources do not produce the continuous spectrum of illumination that is characteristic of incandescent sources.
Similar phenomena occur in high pressure arc lamps in which broadening of spectral lines occurs owing to high collision rates.
What are full spectrum light sources.
Broadband light sources then overlap and form a continuous i e nondiscrete spectrum.
Full spectrum products are usually marketed as electric light sources that emulate.
The smaller peaks and valleys may be due to measurement errors rather than discrete spectral lines.
A good example of a almost exclusively single wavelength source of non incandescent visible light is the sodium vapor lamps commonly employed in street lighting.