Magnetic susceptibility, quantitative measure of the extent to which a material may be magnetized in relation to a given applied magnetic field. The magnetic susceptibility of a material, commonly symbolized by χm, is equal to the ratio of the magnetization Mwithin the material to the applied magnetic field strength H, or χm = Im/H
This ratio, strictly speaking, is the volume susceptibility, because magnetization essentially involves a certain measure of magnetism (dipole moment) per unit volume.