Absorption

Not to be confused with adsorption.

Absorption may refer to:

Chemistry and biology

• Absorption (biology), digestion
  • Absorption (small intestine)
• Absorption (chemistry), diffusion of particles of gas or liquid into liquid or solid materials
• Absorption (skin), a route by which substances enter the body through the skin
• Absorption (pharmacology), absorption of drugs into the body

Physics and chemical engineering

• Absorption (acoustics), absorption of sound waves by a material
• Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption of light or other electromagnetic radiation by a material
• Absorption air conditioning, a type of solar air conditioning
• Absorption refrigerator, a refrigerator that runs on surplus heat rather than electricity
• Dielectric absorption, the inability of a charged capacitor to completely discharge when briefly discharged

Mathematics and economics

• Absorption (economics), the total demand of an economy for goods and services both from within and without
• Absorption (logic), one of the rules of inference
• Absorption costing, or total absorption costing, a method for appraising or valuing a firm's total inventory by including all the manufacturing costs incurred to produce those goods
• Absorbing element, in mathematics, an element that does not change when it is combined in a binary operation with some other element
• Absorption law, in mathematics, an identity linking a pair of binary operations

See also

• Adsorption, the formation of a gas or liquid film on a solid surface
• CO₂ scrubber, device which absorbs carbon dioxide from circulated gas
• Digestion, the uptake of substances by the gastrointestinal tract
• Absorption (psychology), a state of becoming absorbed by mental imagery or fantasy
• Flow (psychology), a state of total mental "absorption"