Physics
Physics
Problem
A surface *absorbs* of radiation and reflects . What is the albedo of the surface?Intuitive explanation
Albedo measures what fraction of incoming radiation a surface bounces back rather than absorbs—it's essentially the surface's "reflectivity." The key insight is that albedo is simply the ratio of reflected power to total incident power, so you need to first find how much radiation actually arrived at the surface before any was absorbed or reflected.
Intuitive explanation
Albedo measures what fraction of incoming radiation a surface bounces back rather than absorbs—it's essentially the surface's "reflectivity." The key insight is that albedo is simply the ratio of reflected power to total incident power, so you need to first find how much radiation actually arrived at the surface before any was absorbed or reflected.