Word.ws English Dictionary

Fresnel number

Fresnel number noun: a dimensionless quantity (denoted F), such that for an electromagnetic wave passing through an aperture and hitting a screen, F=(a²)/(Lλ) where a is the characteristic size (e.g. radius) of the aperture, L is the distance of the screen from the aperture, and λ is the incident wavelength.

Noun

Fresnel number (plural Fresnel numbers)

  1. A dimensionless quantity (denoted F), such that for an electromagnetic wave passing through an aperture and hitting a screen, F=(a²)/(Lλ) where a is the characteristic size (e.g. radius) of the aperture, L is the distance of the screen from the aperture, and λ is the incident wavelength.

Forms of Fresnel number

pluralFresnel numbers

Origin of Fresnel number

Named after the physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel.

Questions about Fresnel number

What does Fresnel number mean?
Fresnel number means a dimensionless quantity (denoted F), such that for an electromagnetic wave passing through an aperture and hitting a screen, F=(a²)/(Lλ) where a is the characteristic size (e.g. radius) of the aperture, L is the distance of the screen from the aperture, and λ is the incident wavelength.
What part of speech is Fresnel number?
Fresnel number is a noun.
What is the plural of Fresnel number?
The plural of Fresnel number is Fresnel numbers.

Words near Fresnel number in the dictionary

  1. Fresnel lamps
  2. Fresnel lantern
  3. Fresnel lanterns
  4. Fresnel lens
  5. Fresnel lenses
  6. Fresnel number
  7. Fresnel numbers
  8. Fresnel reflection
  9. Fresnel reflections
  10. Fresnel rhomb
  11. Fresnel rhombs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Fresnel number (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “Fresnel number.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fresnel_number. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.