Calculate absorbance and transmittance using the Beer-Lambert Law.
Input Parameters
%
Calculation Results
Enter parameters to calculate OD
About this calculator
Quick Reference
ODOptical Density (Absorbance)
TTransmittance (Fraction)
I₀Incident Light Intensity
ITransmitted Light Intensity
Overview
Optical density (OD) is a measure of the extent to which a substance transmits light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is essentially the absorbance of a material at a specific wavelength.
💡
Pro Tips
OD = -log₁₀(T), where T is transmittance as a fraction.
A transmittance of 10% corresponds to an OD of 1.0.
A transmittance of 1% corresponds to an OD of 2.0.
!
Fun Facts
"Optical density is a dimensionless quantity."
"The term is often used interchangeably with 'Absorbance'."
"In microbiology, OD600 is used to estimate the concentration of bacteria in a liquid culture."
