Accommodation Coefficient

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Accommodation Coefficient

(symbol Missing Image:IMG SRC="equat/alphasm.gif" WIDTH=14 HEIGHT=11 alt="accommodation coefficient symbol")

The ratio of the average energy actually transferred between a surface and impinging gas molecules which are scattered by the surface to the average energy which would theoretically by transferred if the impinging molecules reached complete thermal equilibrium with the surface before leaving the surface or <math> a = (E_r-E _i)/E_s-E_i)

</math> where a is the accommodation coefficient, Er is the energy carried away from unit surface area per second by the scattered or re-evaporated molecules, Ei is the energy per unit surface area per second carried toward the surface by the impinging molecules, and Es is the energy per unit surface area per second which would be carried away by the molecules if the molecules reached complete thermal equilibrium with the surface before leaving.

References

This article is based on NASA's Dictionary of Technical Terms for Aerospace Use