As noted in a previous chapter, the light our eyes see is but a small part of a broad spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. On the immediate high energy side of the visible spectrum lies the ultraviolet, and on the low energy side is the infrared. The portion of the infrared region most useful for analysis of organic compounds is not immediately adjacent to the visible spectrum, but is that having a wavelength range from 2,500 to 16,000 nm, with a corresponding frequency range from 1.9*1013 to 1.2*1014 Hz.