Ultraviolet visible spectrophotometers often called, UV Vis spectrophotometers or UV spectrophotometers, quantify the optical properties of samples in the ultraviolet and visible wavelength ranges of light (190 to 1100 nm).
UV spectroscopy determines how much light of a given wavelength passes through a sample, and how much is absorbed. Such information can be diagnostic of molecular identity, concentration, structure, or activity, whether of organic species such as porphyrins, benzenes, and napthalenes, or of biomolecules like nucleic acids and proteins. Spectrophotometers can scan fixed or variable wavelengths, and come in both single- and double-beam configurations.