[li]absorb (absorption)[/li][li]adsorb (adsorption)[/li]
I have looked up these two words in the Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, but I am not quite sure I get the full grasp of what the difference between the two is, if any. I do know they are very closely related.
Anyone care to enlighten me as to what the difference is??
In the process of adsorption I don’t think anything is absorbed i.e soaked up.
Adsorption is a process in which a substance, normally a gas, gathers on the surface of another substance, normally a solid, to form a thin film.
adsorb v : accumulate of the surface; of liquids or gases, in chemistry
In absorption, the substance being absorbed is actually taken physically into the substance doing the absorption - e.g., water into a sponge.
In adsorption, the substance being adsorbed (a gas or liquid) is held as a thin layer on the surface of the substance doing the adsorbing (a liquid or solid) - it does not enter inside.
“Absorb” is a much more common term - “adsorb” is technical term mostly limited to scientific contexts.
Thank you very much, Colibri. That was an excellent simple to understand explanation. I get it now. 
