What does a spectrophotometer measure?

Answer by  bl834 (1317)

Light. Mostly the intensity: how much light is absorbed or reflected for any given sample. Every element has a very specific result, so you can use spectrophotometry to discover what something is made of. Colors can be defined precisely by it as well.

Answer by  Russty (166)

A spectrophometer is used for measuring the intensity of light as a function of the wavelength of light. One common use of spectrophotometers is to measure light absorbption, but they can also be used to measure the diffusion of light or the reflectiveness of light. They are mainly used in physics, but also have uses in chemistry and molecular biology.