sorb-, sorpt- +
(Latin: to suck in, to swallow; to take in)
A fabric or pad with various forms, weights, and uses: Absorbent gauzes may be rolled, single-layered fine fabrics for spiral bandages, or they may be thick, multilayered pads for sterile pressure dressings and there may also be adhesive backings all of which are used to collect or to remove unwanted or harmful fluids.
1. A material or device that collects the sun's radiation: The factory in Julie's town manufactured absorbers for use in the solar energy sector.
2. The material that readily gathers photons to generate charge carriers which are the free electrons or holes: The instructor tried to explain the different materials that could be used as absorbers.
2. The material that readily gathers photons to generate charge carriers which are the free electrons or holes: The instructor tried to explain the different materials that could be used as absorbers.
absorber plate (s) (noun)
1. A metal sheet in a flat plate solar collector whose primary function is to maximize the transfer of solar radiation reaching it through the glazing to the heat transfer fluid.
2. A flat surface, usually black and sometimes incorporating the use of mirrors or transparent covers, used to collect solar energy.
2. A flat surface, usually black and sometimes incorporating the use of mirrors or transparent covers, used to collect solar energy.
absorbifacient (adjective)
A reference to having the power, capacity, or tendency to soak up something: "There are absorbifacient elements that can take in liquids, energy, etc."
absorbing boom (s) (noun)
A device that is floated on the surface of water in order to stop the spread of an oil spill and to aid in its cleanup.
absorptance (s) (noun)
The ratio between the radiation absorbed by a surface (absorber) and the total amount of solar radiation striking the surface.
absorptiometer (s) (noun)
1. An instrument that measures the thickness of a layer of liquid, drawn by capillary attraction, between glass plates.
2. An instrument that measures the absorption of gas by a liquid.
3. A device used to measure the ability of a sample substance to absorb a given material.
2. An instrument that measures the absorption of gas by a liquid.
3. A device used to measure the ability of a sample substance to absorb a given material.
A radiographic technique for measuring the dissipation of x-ray energy as the beam goes through tissue and the amount of radiation absorbed by the sample is measured: "Absorptiometry is used in medicine to measure bone density."
1. The soaking up of liquids by solids, or of gases by solids or liquids: Judy's mother used a special cloth to facilitate the absorption of the spilled milk.
2. The taking up of light or of its rays by black or colored rays: The absorption of the illumination by the black cloth seemed to be adequate.
3. The retention of radiant heat by the body, causing a rise in body temperature: Stanley was feeling quite hot which was caused by the absorption of the heat from the sun when he was at the beach.
4. The reduction in intensity of an X-ray photon as it passes through a substance or a beam of light as it passes through a solution which is used in clinical photometry as well as nuclear methods: At the laboratory the technicians were able to monitor the absorption of the electromagnetic energy as it passed through the blue solution.
5. The passage of a substance through some surface of the body into body fluids and tissues, such as the passage of ether through the respiratory epithelium of the lungs into the blood during anesthesia, or the passage of oil of wintergreen through the skin, which is the result of several processes like diffusion, filtration, and osmosis: Rodney, the anesthesiologist, frequently checked the level of absorption of the ether during the surgery.
6. The process by which a liquid or gas is drawn into the permeable pores of a solid material: The clean gauze bandage slowed the absorption of the blood from the wound.
7. In physiology, the passage of substances across and into tissues, such as the passage of digested food molecules into intestinal cells or the passage of liquid into kidney tubules: The various types of medical absorptions include agglutinin absorption, cutaneous absorption, external absorption, intestinal absorption, parenteral absorption, and pathological absorption.
2. The taking up of light or of its rays by black or colored rays: The absorption of the illumination by the black cloth seemed to be adequate.
3. The retention of radiant heat by the body, causing a rise in body temperature: Stanley was feeling quite hot which was caused by the absorption of the heat from the sun when he was at the beach.
4. The reduction in intensity of an X-ray photon as it passes through a substance or a beam of light as it passes through a solution which is used in clinical photometry as well as nuclear methods: At the laboratory the technicians were able to monitor the absorption of the electromagnetic energy as it passed through the blue solution.
5. The passage of a substance through some surface of the body into body fluids and tissues, such as the passage of ether through the respiratory epithelium of the lungs into the blood during anesthesia, or the passage of oil of wintergreen through the skin, which is the result of several processes like diffusion, filtration, and osmosis: Rodney, the anesthesiologist, frequently checked the level of absorption of the ether during the surgery.
6. The process by which a liquid or gas is drawn into the permeable pores of a solid material: The clean gauze bandage slowed the absorption of the blood from the wound.
7. In physiology, the passage of substances across and into tissues, such as the passage of digested food molecules into intestinal cells or the passage of liquid into kidney tubules: The various types of medical absorptions include agglutinin absorption, cutaneous absorption, external absorption, intestinal absorption, parenteral absorption, and pathological absorption.
A large pit used to absorb effluent from a septic tank; usually, filled with coarse aggregate arranged within a distribution system.
A device that transfers thermal energy from a heat source to a heat sink through an absorbent fluid and a refrigerant.
Most commercial absorption chillers use lithium bromide (a salt) and water as the fluid pair, with lithium bromide being the absorbent and water the refrigerant.
absorption coefficient
A measure of the amount of incident energy that is absorbed per unit distance or unit mass of a substance.
absorption cycle, absorption refrigeration, absorption cooling
A process within a refrigeration system during which the primary fluid (the refrigerant) and the secondary fluid (the absorbent) mix after the refrigerant leaves the evaporator.
absorption fading
A variation in the absorption of radio waves propagated through the ionosphere due to changes in the densities of ionization.
absorption field
A system of trenches filled with coarse aggregate surrounding distribution pipes; used to seep septic tank effluent into the surrounding soil.
