air equivalent

American  

noun

Physics.

1. a measure of the effectiveness of a material in absorbing nuclear radiation, expressed as the thickness of an air layer (at 0° C and 1 atmosphere) causing the same absorption.

---

Example Sentences

Each collected on its forward side a layer of highly compressed air equivalent in mass to many feet of rock.

From Time Magazine Archive

Finally Sir Hugh Trenehard was appointed Marshal of the Royal Air Force, a rank never before bestowed and the air equivalent of "Admiral of the Fleet" or "Field Marshal."

From Time Magazine Archive

This "train"�the air equivalent of a motor truck with tandem trailers�taxied across the field and managed to take off, the plane tugging, the gliders lunging after.

From Time Magazine Archive