Absorption
Containment systems for the prevention of pollution, Secondary, tertiary and other measures for industrial and commercial premises (CIRIA C736), published by CIRIA in 2014 defines absorption as: ‘A process in which one substance, usually a liquid or gas, permeates into, or is dissolved by, a liquid or solid.’
Absorption may also refer to things that are not substances, such as sound, light, impact and so on.
Approved document E: Resistance to the passage of sound, 2003 edition incorporating 2004, 2010, 2013 and 2015 amendments, defines absorption as: ‘Conversion of sound energy to heat, often by the use of a porous material.’
Articles about absorption on Designing Buildings Wiki include:
NB Technical paper 35: Moisture measurement in the historic environment, published by Historic Environment Scotland in 2021, defines absorption as: ‘A process in which a solid holds a gas or liquid within its open volume.’
Anticipate, react, recover; Resilient infrastructure systems, published by the National Infrastructure Commission in May 2020, defines absorb as: ‘The actions that, accepting there will be or has been an impact on infrastructure services, aim to lessen that impact, such as building a water transfer network to prepare for future droughts.’
See also: Adsorption.
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