What is the difference between a continuous spectrum and a line spectrum?
A continuous spectrum displays all the colors in a smooth gradation from one end to the other. E.g., if you’re talking about the visible light spectrum, a continuous spectrum would be a band of color that gradually changed from violet at one end through indigo, blue, green, yellow and orange to red at the other end. A line spectrum is not continuous. Only certain strips out of the continuous spectrum are seen, though they do appear spaced apart the same amount as if they were cut from the continuous spectrum. A line spectrum can be used to identify (for example) elements in distant stars. When the star’s light is spread into a spectrum, certain elements cause color strips of certain colors to appear. The strips always appear in the same place whenever those elements are present. I hope this makes a little sense to you.
