Energy flux is the rate of transfer of energy through a surface. The quantity is defined in two different ways, depending on the context:
- Rate of energy transfer per unit area. (SI units: W·m−2 = J·m−2·s−1)
- This is a vector quantity, its components being determined in terms of the normal (perpendicular) direction to the surface of measurement.
- This is sometimes called energy flux density, to distinguish it from the second definition.
- Radiative flux, heat flux, and sound energy flux are specific cases of energy flux density.
- Total rate of energy transfer. (SI units: W = J·s−1)
- This is sometimes informally called energy current.
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Famous quotes containing the words energy and/or flux:
“The very presence of guilt, let alone its tenacity, implies imbalance: Something, we suspect, is getting more of our energy than warrants, at the expense of something else, we suspect, that deserves more of our energy than we’re giving.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“Existence is no more than the precarious attainment of relevance in an intensely mobile flux of past, present, and future.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)