Title: attenuation coefficient
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - attenuation coefficient
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.A00516
Status: current

Definition
Analogous to absorption coefficient but taking into account also the effects due to scattering and luminescence. It was formerly called extinction coefficient.

Related Terms
- absorption coefficient: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/A00037
- luminescence: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/L03641
- scattering: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/S05487

Source
- Green Book, 2nd ed., p. 32 (https://goldbook.iupac.org/files/pdf/green_book_2ed.pdf)

Related References
- Orange Book, 2nd ed., p. 212 (https://media.iupac.org/publications/analytical_compendium/)
- PAC, 1996, 68, 957. 'Glossary of terms in quantities and units in Clinical Chemistry (IUPAC-IFCC Recommendations 1996)' on page 963 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199668040957)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/A00516/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/A00516/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/A00516/xml

Citation: Citation: 'attenuation coefficient' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.A00516
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-06-29T07:55:41+00:00