Definition: Absorption, generally understood as a process where substances absorb or reflect light, is a very important property in chemistry. It can be defined as "the ability of an object to absorb or scatter light". In other words, it refers to the property that an object absorbs or reflects light. An absorbing substance also tends to have low specific absorption coefficients (a constant ratio between absorbed and emitted light). This means that more energy is absorbed by the material than released, which results in a high absorptivity value. Absorptive materials are often used in various applications such as spectrophotometry, spectroscopy, and quantum chemistry. Specific absorption coefficient is defined as the reciprocal of the absorptivity. It represents how much light can be scattered from or absorbed by an absorbing substance under a specific wavelength. A high specific absorption coefficient indicates a material is able to scatter more light than absorb it. The concept of absorption in chemistry is very fundamental and serves as a critical tool for understanding the behavior of substances in various environments, including water and air, which are important for biological processes like photosynthesis.

absorptivity