1. Decrease in intensity of a signal, beam, or wave as a result of absorption of energy and of scattering out of the path of a detector, but not including the reduction due to geometric spreading, i.e., the inverse square of distance effect.
For the purists, there are about 145 copper cents / pennies in a pound. On the other hand, post 1982 zinc cents which have a copper plating over a much softer, much lighter zinc planchet. So there are about 180 zinc cents / pennies per pound. Those numbers of pennies per pound are of course for new, uncirculated, zinc or copper cents. When minted, new copper cents weigh about 3.11 grams each and new zinc cents about 2.5 grams each and that is our basis for the number of pennies in a pound. However, once they are put in circulation, they start to ware thinner and thinner.
A penny is the lowest form of American currency, worth only one cent, and is popularly believed to be made solely of copper. However, the common penny has been made of a variety of materials over the years, with copper even being removed completely in 1943. Today, a penny is made of 97.5 percent zinc, and 2.5 percent copper.