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The change of reactor reactivity with thermal power along a specified family of states. In a quasistatic process, the chain rule weights each temperature coefficient of reactivity by that component's temperature response to power.

The ratio of signal power delivered to a specified output load to signal power accepted at a specified input, with $P_{\mathrm{in}}>0$. An amplifier draws additional energy from its supply, so a power gain above one does not create energy.

A regime in which the steady material creep rate varies approximately as a power of stress, $\dot{\epsilon }\propto {\sigma }^n$, with thermally activated coefficients. In ordinary dislocation-creep fields, glide, climb and recovery give an exponent greater than the linear-stress diffusion-creep limit.

The ratio of transmitted to incident normal time-averaged power for a specified wave and interface. Converting a field-amplitude transmission coefficient into power requires the appropriate impedances or flux normalization. For a displacement wave on a string with impedance $Z$, $\mathcal{T}=(Z_2/Z_1)|t{|}^2$; using an electric-field amplitude in electromagnetic waves instead gives the corresponding electromagnetic flux ratio. Amplitude squared alone is sufficient only when the relevant incident and transmitted normalizations agree.

For a resistive upper strip at $z=d$ with $V(x)=V_0-IRx/l$ and an ideal lower strip at zero potential, the narrow-gap approximation gives $\varphi =zV(x)/d$ and $\mathbf{H}=(0,I/a,0)$. The Poynting vector has both an axial flux and an upward flux into the lossy conductor. Axial power decreases by $I^{2}R$ along the line, exactly equal to the integrated upper-surface flux. The ideal lower conductor receives no steady dissipation.

A small longitudinal electric field drives conductor current in a lossy coaxial line. Its cross product with the azimuthal magnetic field sends energy radially into both conductors, where it becomes heat; forward power decreases with distance.

The Poynting theorem is the local energy balance of classical electromagnetism. For vacuum field laws, with current density $\mathbf{J}$, the electromagnetic energy per unit volume isandThus a decrease in local electromagnetic energy can supply outward energy flux or work on electric charge. The term $\mathbf{J}\cdot \mathbf{E}$ is power transferred to matter per unit volume. Its sign matters: positive values remove field energy, while negative values describe matter supplying the field. The magnetic part of the Lorentz force supplies no work term.

For a fixed volume $V$, the divergence theorem gives the directly measurable balanceFor example, $2.0\mathrm{W}$ entering a region with $0.50\mathrm{W}$ leaving and $1.20\mathrm{W}$ transferred to matter means stored electromagnetic energy increases at $0.30\mathrm{W}$. In source-free vacuum only the boundary flux changes the stored energy; a nonzero local Poynting vector can still have zero net closed-surface flux.

A brief proof takes the dot product of the Ampère-Maxwell equation with $\mathbf{E}/{\mu }_0$ and uses Faraday's law with $\mathbf{B}/{\mu }_0$. The identity $\nabla \cdot (\mathbf{E}\times \mathbf{B})=\mathbf{B}\cdot (\nabla \times \mathbf{E})-\mathbf{E}\cdot (\nabla \times \mathbf{B})$ turns the remaining terms into the divergence of the Poynting vector. ^[ref].

In vacuum the Poynting vectoris the local energy flux, measured in watts per square metre. Its surface integral $P={\int }_A\mathbf{S}\cdot \mathbf{n}dA$ gives signed power crossing a surface with unit normal vector $\mathbf{n}$. Positive flux follows the chosen normal; for a closed surface the usual convention is outward. Power depends on the normal component and area, rather than just the field magnitude.

The Poynting vector applies to steady fields as well as electromagnetic waves. In a driven resistive electrical circuit, surrounding fields can carry energy into the conductor, where electrical work becomes Joule heating. This turns a circuit-level power balance into a spatial description of energy delivery. ^[ref].

A Prony brake measures shaft power using a resisting band: its force difference gives torque $\tau =r(F_1-F_2)$, and rotation gives $P=\tau \omega$, where $\omega$ is angular velocity. The Stirling engine experiment above uses this independent load measurement to distinguish shaft output from gas-cycle work.

An ideal receding mirror reflecting a source beam of constant power $P$ receives force $(2P/c)(1-\beta )/(1+\beta )$ after including both Doppler-shifted reflected momentum and reduced impact rate. For fixed rest mass $M$, use $dt/d\tau =\gamma$ in the momentum equation. It reduces to $d\beta /d\tau =(1-\beta {)}^2/{\tau }_0$, where ${\tau }_0=M{c}^2/(2P)$. Starting from rest gives $\beta =\tau /(\tau +{\tau }_0)$. This continuum mirror model neglects individual-photon recoil and finite beam interception.

Water is pumped to an upper reservoir and later discharged through a turbine. For approximately constant head, useful discharge energy is $\eta \rho Vgh$ while power is $\eta \rho Qgh$; reservoir volume and flow rating set different properties.

If pump power depends only on fluid mass density $\rho$, impeller diameter $D$ and angular velocity $\omega$, dimensional analysis fixes $P=C_P\rho {\omega }^3{D}^5$, where $C_P$ is dimensionless. Comparing pumps with the same $C_P$ gives the displayed scaling. Geometrical or flow-regime changes can change $C_P$; the law is not a universal comparison of arbitrary pumps.

Radiant flux is the power carried by electromagnetic radiation: radiation energy transferred per unit time, measured in watts, $\mathrm{W}=\mathrm{J}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$. Specify what is counted: all radiation emitted by a source, radiation within one beam, or radiation intercepted by a photodetector. Writing $Q(t)$ for the cumulative energy crossing the specified boundary givesThe first expression is an instantaneous derivative; the second is an average over the stated time interval. If $0.020\mathrm{J}$ arrives during $0.010\mathrm{s}$, the mean radiant flux is $2\mathrm{W}$. The photodetector's absorbed power equals this incident radiant flux only if it absorbs all of the incident radiation.

Keeping radiant flux fixed while widening a beam reduces its irradiance, the incident power per receiving area. Radiance additionally resolves the propagation direction and has units $\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{m}}^{-2}\mathrm{s}{\mathrm{r}}^{-1}$; an optical camera can collect different radiant fluxes from sources with the same radiance but different apparent solid angles. Luminous flux, measured in lumens, weights the optical spectrum by the human eye's standardized response instead of counting energy equally at every wavelength. Equal radiant fluxes need not give equal luminous fluxes.^[ref]

Radiant power also differs from the optical power of an optical lens, which is reciprocal focal length in dioptres. Likewise, astronomical radiative flux is power per area. Stating the units prevents these shared words from hiding different physical quantities.

In geometrical optics, suppose radiation has a nonnegative radiance $L(\mathbf{x},\mathbf{s})$ whose directional contributions add as power. Here $\mathbf{s}$ is the actual propagation unit vector, $d\Omega$ is a solid angle element, and the collecting oriented surface $A$ has chosen unit normal $\mathbf{n}(\mathbf{x})$. Assume the following integrals exist. The outward and inward radiant fluxes areBoth quantities are nonnegative; their difference is the signed net radiant flux. The dot product supplies the cosine of the angle with the unit normal, hence the projected area. For incoming radiation the outward unit normal gives a negative dot product; the minus sign makes the collected power positive. Measuring the incoming angle from a source-facing unit normal instead gives the familiar positive $\cos \theta$. The units check is $\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{m}}^{-2}\mathrm{s}{\mathrm{r}}^{-1}\times {\mathrm{m}}^2\times \mathrm{sr}=\mathrm{W}$.

Equivalently, the incoming surface integral is ${\Phi }_{-}={\int }_{A}EdA$ with local irradiance $E$; the emitted part of ${\Phi }_{+}$ is ${\int }_{A}MdA$ with radiant exitance $M$. For a small flat patch and a narrow accepted cone, nearly constant radiance and angle give $\Phi \simeq LA\cos \theta \Delta \Omega$. This approximation requires uniformity across the patch and cone. Direction-independent outgoing radiance over a whole hemisphere gives the different exact result ${\Phi }_{+}=\pi LA$, by Lambert's cosine law and the spherical coordinates calculation in radiant exitance. Replacing the cosine-weighted integral by the hemisphere's $2\pi$ solid angle would double the answer.^[ref]

These radiance formulas presume a description in additive directional power; they do not reconstruct arbitrary coherent wave interference from separate ray contributions. For general electromagnetic fields, the signed instantaneous power crossing an oriented surface is ${\int }_A\mathbf{S}\cdot \mathbf{n}dA$, using the Poynting vector $\mathbf{S}$; optical measurements commonly average over many wave periods. A zero net radiant flux can conceal equal nonzero incoming and outgoing radiant fluxes.

A radiation pattern specifies emitted power per solid angle as a function of direction. For a slowly moving point electric charge with acceleration $\mathbf{a}$, $dP/d\Omega =q^2|\mathbf{n}\times \mathbf{a}{|}^2/(16{\pi }^2{ϵ}_0{c}^3)$. Its integral over directions is the Larmor formula; its fore-aft symmetry implies zero net radiated three-momentum in the instantaneous rest inertial frame. Directional detector power includes the distinction between source emission time and arrival time.

For an orbit of radius $b$ in the $xy$ plane, $\mathbf{a}=-b{\omega }^2(\cos \omega t,\sin \omega t,0)$. In spherical coordinates, at angle $\theta$ from the orbit normal, $⟨(\mathbf{n}\cdot \mathbf{a}{)}^2⟩=b^2{\omega }^4{\sin }^2\theta /2$. The acceleration covariance in nonrelativistic radiation therefore gives the displayed pattern. Its axial power per solid angle is twice its equatorial value; no observation direction has zero time-averaged power. Integrating gives $⟨P⟩=q^2{b}^2{\omega }^4/(6\pi {ϵ}_0{c}^3)$. The condition $b\omega \ll c$ is essential: relativistic synchrotron radiation has a different beamed pattern.

Radiation pressure is the normal momentum flux transferred by electromagnetic radiation to a surface. A photon travelling in vacuum carries momentum $p_{\gamma }=E_{\gamma }/c=h\nu /c$, where $E_{\gamma }$ is its energy, $\nu$ its frequency, $h$ the Planck constant and $c$ the speed of light. Photon absorption transfers that momentum; specular reflection reverses its normal component. This lets light exert a force even when almost no energy becomes heat in the receiver.

Two useful formulas describe different preparations. A directed beam normally incident on a stationary perfect absorber gives pressure $I/c$, and on a stationary perfect mirror gives $2I/c$. Here $I$ is light intensity, the incident power per beam cross-sectional area perpendicular to propagation, in $\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{m}}^{-2}$. An isotropic photon gas has pressure $u/3$, where $u=U/V$ is its radiation internal energy per volume, in $\mathrm{J}{\mathrm{m}}^{-3}$. Stored energy density and travelling energy flux must be distinguished: an isotropic field can have zero net energy flux and positive radiation pressure.

The physical appeal is that the same momentum conservation connects a single photon collision, a mirror's measurable force, and a radiation-filled cavity's equation of state. The directional calculation below complements radiation pressure on a perfectly absorbing surface; the equilibrium spectrum and its temperature dependence belong to blackbody radiation and the photon gas.

A 2013 experiment by Paul A. Williams and collaborators mounted a 25-mm dielectric mirror on a commercial force-restoration balance. Removing its pan-weight compensation spring allowed horizontal force sensing with a horizontal laser path. They measured mirror optical reflectance and varied incidence from about $7^{\circ }$ to $45^{\circ }$. A 1071-nm laser, capable of 530 W, was switched at 0.1 Hz. Digitized mass-equivalent readings were converted to force using $g$; quadrature demodulation isolated the switched signal from drift. ^[ref]

Measurement calibration used a 20-g mass, with checks down to 1 mg. The optical forces lay below that checked range, limiting the accuracy claim. An angle scan tested the predicted cosine dependence at fixed intercepted power. Replacing the mirror with a carbon nanotube coated absorber increased absorbed power while reducing the predicted optical force; no modulation peak was detected. This bounded gas-heating artifacts under those conditions, rather than proving their universal absence. The fitted slope was about 7% below $2/c$. Inferring laser power requires calibrated force, optical reflectance, radiometric absorptance and angle of incidence, with measurement uncertainty for each. ^[ref]

For normal incidence in vacuum, a uniform beam delivers energy $IA\Delta t$ to an illuminated surface area $A$ during time $\Delta t$. A perfect absorber receives momentum $IA\Delta t/c$, so force divided by surface area gives $p_{\mathrm{abs}}=I/c$. A perfect stationary mirror sends the photons back with reversed momentum, so momentum conservation gives twice the normal transfer, $p_{\mathrm{refl}}=2I/c$. These are time-averaged pressures; the microscopic arrivals need not be uniform.

For a stipulated model light intensity $I=1000\mathrm{W}{\mathrm{m}}^{-2}$ and the exact SI speed of light $c=299792458\mathrm{m}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$,These are computed predictions, not measured data or a universal sunlight value. If the beam fully covers a normally oriented surface area $A=0.010{\mathrm{m}}^2$, the intercepted radiant flux is $\Phi =IA=10\mathrm{W}$ and the absorber's force is $\Phi /c\simeq 33.356\mathrm{nN}$. Using the total source power would be wrong if only part of its beam reaches the receiver. The absorption prediction assumes complete photon absorption, while the reflection prediction assumes complete specular reflection; transmission, scattering of light and directed thermal photon emission require their own outgoing momentum accounting.

Measure the angle of incidence $\theta$ between the incoming path and the surface's normal line, with $0\le \theta <\pi /2$. There are two separate cosine factors. A fixed actual surface area $A$ intercepts only its projected area $A\cos \theta$, so $\Phi =IA\cos \theta$. Each incoming photon supplies normal momentum $(E_{\gamma }/c)\cos \theta$ on absorption, or twice that on specular reflection. Thus, for radiometric absorptance $a$ and reflected power fraction $R$,This model assumes transmitted light continues straight in the same medium and carries away its original momentum. It omits thermal recoil and assumes a stationary receiver. At $\theta =60^{\circ }$, fixed beam light intensity therefore gives one quarter of the normal-incidence pressure. For fixed intercepted radiant flux $\Phi$, however, the normal force has only one cosine factor. Equivalently, if the given quantity is receiving-surface irradiance $E_{\mathrm{inc}}=I\cos \theta$, then $p_{\perp }=(a+2R)E_{\mathrm{inc}}\cos \theta /c$. The distinction matters when interpreting an experiment's angle scan. ^[ref]

Absorption also transfers a tangential momentum component at oblique incidence. It contributes a tangential force, rather than normal pressure. Ideal specular reflection preserves the tangential momentum component, so it transfers only normal momentum.

Radiation reaction is the influence on a source's motion of its own electromagnetic field, including the balance of radiated energy and momentum with changes of the near field. For sufficiently weak radiation loss, an averaged power balance can give the leading damping law without solving the full self-field dynamics. Replacing a constant-frequency radiation formula by its instantaneous slowly varying value requires an additional time-scale assumption; it is not an exact treatment of arbitrarily rapid motion changes.