Use of "In contrast" vs. "By contrast"?

Anonymous:

Hi,

I wrote a sentence that starts:

"In contrast to the spectra in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the base peak in Figure 4 corresponds to ......"

I had this corrected to:

"By contrast to........."

The only thing I had wondered about when I first wrote the sentence was whether it should be "...contrast to..." or "..... "contrast with...."

Please could you tell me which of the three options (By contrast to/In contrast to/In contrast with) is actually correct?

Thank you!

Clive:

Hi,

I wrote a sentence that starts:

"In contrast to the spectra in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the base peak in Figure 4 corresponds to .."

I had this corrected to:

"By contrast to.."

The only thing I had wondered about when I first wrote the sentence was whether it should be "...contrast to..." or ".. "contrast with.."

Please could you tell me which of the three options (By contrast to/In contrast to/In contrast with) is actually correct?

I prefer 'in contrast to', but 'In contrast with' is not wrong.

'By contrast to' sounds odd to me. I'd prefer eg 'By contrast, A is bigger than B'.

I don't thnk I've seen the word 'spectra' used before.

The term 'base peak' seems a little like an oxymoron to me, but perhaps in your context it is a common term.

Best wishes, Clive

Veteran Member62,158

Anonymous:

Thank you very much for your speedy reply - it confirms what I first thought.

Plus - apologies for posting anonymously - I read that I should have joined AFTER I had posted my question. You can think if me as "LittleNell".

Your answer is much appreciated!

Anonymous:

Sorry - I should have responded to your other comments as well.

I am writing my PhD thesis in an area of Analytical Chemistry.

Spectra is the plural of spectrum - I am referring to more than one "mass spectrum" acquired using a piece of equipment called a "mass spectrometer". In a similar vein - "base peak" is the largest peak in a mass spectrum, which is an array of lines (peaks) on a sort of graph that represent ions (charged particles) in a gas.

I hope this clarifies things a bit.

Use of "In contrast" vs. "By contrast"?

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