The gray (Gy) is the unit of absorbed dose in the International System of Units (SI) and represents the amount of energy absorbed by a material per unit mass due to ionizing radiation. Specifically, one gray is equivalent to the absorption of one joule of energy per kilogram of the material.
In simpler terms, the gray measures the intensity of ionizing radiation and its effect on a substance. It is commonly used in fields such as medical physics, radiology, and radiation therapy to quantify the amount of energy absorbed by tissues or other materials exposed to ionizing radiation.
The gray has replaced the older unit, the rad, in the SI system to maintain consistency with other units and simplify measurements related to radiation.