In electricity
electromagnetism, the
electric susceptibility (
latin:
susceptibilis “receptive”) is a dimensionless proportionality constant that indicates the degree of
polarization of a
dielectric material in response to an applied
electric field. The greater the electric susceptibility, the greater the ability of a material to polarize in response to the field, and thereby reduce the total electric field inside the material (and store energy). It is in this way that the electric susceptibility influences the electric
permittivity of the material and thus influences many other phenomena in that medium, from the capacitance of
capacitors to the
speed of light.