Susceptibility

Physics and engineering

In physics the susceptibility is a quantification for the change of an extensive property under variation of an intensive property. The word may refer to:

• In physics, the susceptibility of a material or substance describes its response to an applied field
  • Examples
    • Magnetic susceptibility
    • Electric susceptibility
• The two types of susceptibility above are 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.

Health and medicine

• In epidemiology, a susceptible individual is a member of a population who is at risk of becoming infected by a disease
• In microbiology and pharmacology, antibiotic susceptibility (antibiotic sensitivity) is the susceptibility of bacteria to antibiotics

Botany and environmental science

• Susceptibility to pathogens 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 by convention in this field takes into account both the effect of exposure and the likelihood of exposure

See also

• Vulnerability