Absorbed dose is a measure of the energy deposited in a medium by ionising radiation. It is equal to the energy deposited per unit mass of medium, and so has the unit J/kg, which is given the special name gray (Gy).

Note that the absorbed dose is not a good indicator of the likely biological effect. 1 Gy of alpha radiation would be much more biologically damaging than 1 Gy of photon radiation for example. Appropriate weighting factors can be applied reflecting the different relative biological effects to find the equivalent dose.

The risk of stochastic effects due to radiation exposure can be quantified using the effective dose, which is a weighted average of the equivalent dose to each organ depending upon its radiosensitivity.