radiation pressure

radiation pressure
the pressure exerted on a surface by electromagnetic radiation or by sound waves.
[1900-05]

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Pressure on a surface resulting from electromagnetic radiation that impinges on it.

The pressure is a result of the momentum carried by the radiation. When radiation is reflected rather than absorbed, the radiation pressure is doubled. Radiation pressure can sometimes be great enough to produce a force that is useful.

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      the pressure on a surface resulting from electromagnetic radiation that impinges on it, which results from the momentum carried by that radiation; radiation pressure is doubled if the radiation is reflected rather than absorbed.

      Although the pressure of solar radiation is exceedingly small, a sufficiently large surface could produce a force that would be technologically useful. For example, it has been calculated that a “solar sail” could be designed large enough to propel a spacecraft.

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Universalium. 2010.

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