Light that falls on a surface can either be absorbed, transmitted or reflected, depending on the properties of the material involved. Reflection factors (r), absorption factors (a) and transmission factors (t) can be between 0 and 1 (0 -100%). The sum of the three factor is always 1. The transmitted or reflected radiation can be regular (1), scattered (2) or completely diffuse (3).
Transmission factor τ
The transmission factor is the ratio of transmitted light to incident light. Here are some typical transmission factors :
|
clear glass |
90 ...92% |
|
prismatic glass |
70 ...90% |
|
plastic (white, opaque) |
40 ...60% |