Permeability (electromagnetism)

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Electromagnetism
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Electrostatics Electric charge Coulomb's law Conductor Charge density Permittivity Electric dipole moment Electric field Electric potential Electric flux / potential energy Electrostatic discharge Gauss's law Induction Insulator Polarization density Static electricity Triboelectricity
Magnetostatics Ampère's law Biot–Savart law Gauss's law for magnetism Magnetic field Magnetic flux Magnetic dipole moment Magnetic permeability Magnetic scalar potential Magnetization Magnetomotive force Magnetic vector potential Right-hand rule
Electrodynamics Lorentz force law Electromagnetic induction Faraday's law Lenz's law Displacement current Maxwell's equations Electromagnetic field Electromagnetic pulse Electromagnetic radiation Larmor formula Bremsstrahlung Cyclotron radiation Synchrotron radiation Maxwell tensor Poynting vector Liénard–Wiechert potential Jefimenko's equations Eddy current London equations Mathematical descriptions of the electromagnetic field
Electrical network Alternating current Capacitance Direct current Electric current Electrolysis Current density Joule heating Electromotive force Impedance Inductance Ohm's law Parallel circuit Resistance Resonant cavities Series circuit Voltage Waveguides
Magnetic circuit Gyrator–capacitor model Magnetic complex reluctance magnetic flux Magnetic impedance Magnetic inductance Magnetic reluctance Magnetomotive force Permeance Resistance–reluctance model
Covariant formulation Electromagnetic tensor (stress–energy tensor) Four-current Electromagnetic four-potential
Scientists Ampère Biot Coulomb Davy Einstein Faraday Fizeau Gauss Heaviside Henry Hertz Hopkinson Jefimenko Joule Kelvin Lenz Liénard Lorentz Maxwell Neumann Ørsted Ohm Poynting Ritchie Savart Singer Steinmetz Tesla Volta Weber Wiechert Poisson
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Articles about
Electromagnetism
Electricity Magnetism Optics History Computational Textbooks Phenomena
Electrostatics Charge density Conductor Coulomb law Electret Electric charge Electric dipole Electric field Electric flux Electric potential Electrostatic discharge Electrostatic induction Gauss law Insulator Permittivity Polarization Potential energy Static electricity Triboelectricity
Magnetostatics Ampère law Biot–Savart law Gauss magnetic law Magnetic dipole Magnetic field Magnetic flux Magnetic scalar potential Magnetic vector potential Magnetization Permeability Right-hand rule
Electrodynamics Bremsstrahlung Cyclotron radiation Displacement current Eddy current Electromagnetic field Electromagnetic induction Electromagnetic pulse Electromagnetic radiation Faraday law Jefimenko equations Larmor formula Lenz law Liénard–Wiechert potential London equations Lorentz force Maxwell equations Maxwell tensor Poynting vector Synchrotron radiation
Electrical network Alternating current Capacitance Current density Direct current Electric current Electrolysis Electromotive force Impedance Inductance Joule heating Kirchhoff laws Network analysis Ohm law Parallel circuit Resistance Resonant cavities Series circuit Voltage Waveguides
Magnetic circuit AC motor DC motor Electric machine Electric motor Gyrator–capacitor Induction motor Linear motor Magnetomotive force Permeance Reluctance (complex) Reluctance (real) Rotor Stator Transformer
Covariant formulation Electromagnetic tensor Electromagnetism and special relativity Four-current Four-potential Mathematical descriptions Maxwell equations in curved spacetime Relativistic electromagnetism Stress–energy tensor
Scientists Ampère Biot Coulomb Davy Einstein Faraday Fizeau Gauss Heaviside Helmholtz Henry Hertz Hopkinson Jefimenko Joule Kelvin Kirchhoff Larmor Lenz Liénard Lorentz Maxwell Neumann Ohm Ørsted Poisson Poynting Ritchie Savart Singer Steinmetz Tesla Volta Weber Wiechert
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In electromagnetism, permeability is the measure of magnetization produced in a material in response to an applied magnetic field. Permeability is typically represented by the (italicized) Greek letter μ. It is the ratio of the magnetic induction ${\displaystyle B}$ to the magnetizing field ${\displaystyle H}$ as a function of the field ${\displaystyle H}$ in a material. The term was coined by William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin in 1872,^[1] and used alongside permittivity by Oliver Heaviside in 1885. The reciprocal of permeability is magnetic reluctivity.

In SI units, permeability is measured in henries per meter (H/m), or equivalently in newtons per ampere squared (N/A²). The permeability constant μ₀, also known as the magnetic constant or the permeability of free space, is the proportionality between magnetic induction and magnetizing force when forming a magnetic field in a classical vacuum.

A closely related property of materials is magnetic susceptibility, which is a dimensionless proportionality factor that indicates the degree of magnetization of a material in response to an applied magnetic field.