Talk:Equivalent width

The financial analogy is confusing me more.
I know the financial analogy is supposed to help, but it's pretty complex itself. I think it would be better to simply describe the various measures and how they are implemented and what is the source of that physical effect and how is that known, etc.

J Mark Morris (talk) 03:26, 30 December 2022 (UTC)


 * I agree more strongly, if anything. Conflating the time domain (metaphor) with the frequency domain (EW) is likely to only cause confusion, and the characteristics of a purchase in your finances (sudden drop, slower rebound) and an absorption line (relatively symmetric about the wavelength of interest) don't match well enough for it to be useful. Greeengemini (talk) 18:58, 27 March 2024 (UTC)
 * I've deleted it on the advice of my chemist friend, who brought me to this page in a huff. For those who want to read it without consulting the page history, here is the paragraph:
 * "This analogy can help in a better physical interpretation: imagine the plot showing your monetary savings (or flux in a spectrum; on the vertical axis), as a function of time (or wavelength in a spectrum, on the horizontal axis). When you don't have any spending (continuum), your saving rate as a function of time is relatively flat and may even have a slope (if your saving rate is increasing or decreasing). In this plot, making a purchase of something expensive is like an absorption line (it will momentarily bring down your saving rate). The "equivalent time" of that purchase is the "time" it takes for your continuum savings to replace that purchase in your bank account. In this analogy, the same purchase will have a lower "equivalent time" for someone who can save more than you (that person's "continuum" level is higher, so the "equivalent time" for replacing its value in their bank account is less). Similarly, we judge the strength of the emission/absorption line, in relation to the continuum level surrounding it, through the Equivalent Width" Greeengemini (talk) 19:00, 27 March 2024 (UTC)