albedoes

Variant of albedo

noun pl. albedos or albedoes

  1. Astron. the reflecting power of a planet, satellite, or asteroid, expressed as a ratio of reflected light to the total amount falling on the surface
  2. Physics the degree to which a surface reflects subnuclear particles, esp. neutrons, that strike it: expressed as the ratio of the number of particles that leave the surface in any direction to the number that strike it

Origin: LL(Ec), whiteness < L albus, white: see elf

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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