Susceptibility

Look up susceptibility in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• In physics, the susceptibility of a material or substance describes its response to an applied field. More generally, a susceptibility is a quantification for the change of an extensive property under variation of an intensive property.

There are many kinds of susceptibilities, for example:

Magnetic susceptibility

Electric susceptibility

These two susceptibilities are particular examples of a linear response function; sometimes the terms susceptibility and linear response function are used interchangeably.

• In electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), susceptibility is the sensitivity of a device's function to incoming electromagnetic interference.

• In medicine:

Susceptible individual

• In botany, susceptibility is the extent to which a plant, vegetation complex or ecological community would suffer from a pathogen if exposed, without regard to the likelihood of exposure. It should not be confused with "vulnerability", which takes into account both the effect of exposure and the likelihood of exposure.