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absorption edge
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photoelectric absorption cross section for lead
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Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.
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Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi at work in the wireless room of his yacht Electra, c. 1920.
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X-ray
absorption
energy level
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absorption edge

physics
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History

absorption edge, in physics, abrupt increase in the degree of absorption of electromagnetic radiation by a substance as the frequency of the radiation is increased. Absorption edges are particularly characteristic of the behaviour of X-rays and are related to the sharply defined levels of energy that electrons occupy in atoms.

This article was most recently revised and updated by William L. Hosch.