Even i had confusion differentiating between these two terms at the beginning , have a look at this explanation from one of the Award winning DSP books. ![enter image description here][1] Amplitudes, ![enter image description here][2] Magnitudes, ![enter image description here][3] ![enter image description here][4] [1]: https://i.sstatic.net/hLziY.png [2]: https://i.sstatic.net/P47CO.png [3]: https://i.sstatic.net/7Sg2R.png [4]: https://i.sstatic.net/EhLYs.png