Meaning & use
Emittance
Last updated
The rate at which a surface radiates energy, especially light or heat, per unit area.
See it in a sentence
Engineers measured the emittance of the coating to see how efficiently it radiated heat.
A material with low emittance reflects most incoming radiation rather than absorbing and re-emitting it.
A note on using this word
Often confused with "emissivity," which is the ratio of a surface's emittance to that of a perfect blackbody at the same temperature.
Words with a similar meaning
radiant emittanceemissivity
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