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absorption
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solar spectrum absorption energy level diagrams electron transition
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Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.
Physics and Natural Law
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solar spectrum
solar spectrum The visible solar spectrum (simulated), showing prominent Fraunhofer absorption lines.

absorption

physics
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absorption, in wave motion, the transfer of the energy of a wave to matter as the wave passes through it. The energy of an acoustic, electromagnetic, or other wave is proportional to the square of its amplitudeā€”i.e., the maximum displacement or movement of a point on the waveā€”and, as the wave passes through a substance, its amplitude steadily decreases. If there is only a small fractional absorption of energy, the medium is said to be...

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