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Re: continuous spectra

Why do you think spectra are not really continuous? The energy
levels of the emitting solid overlap and so do the transition energy
differences (and lambdas).

GARY HEMMINGER wrote:

The question has arisen in one of my classes - are continuous
spectra truly continuous? I'm wondering about this from both a
theoretical and practical point of view. Does theory say that there
are an infinite number of wavelengths emitted in the visible range for
example by a black body, or is there simply a finite but sufficiently
large number of emission lines that the spectrum appears
continuous? Is the limited resolution of our equipment an issue?