| permittivity (pûr'mĭ-tĭv'ĭ-tē) Pronunciation Key
A measure of the ability of a material to resist the formation of an electric field within it, equal to the ratio between the electric flux density and the electric field strength generated by an electric charge in the material. |
permittivity
constant of proportionality that relates the electric field in a material to the electric displacement in that material. It characterizes the tendency of the atomic charge in an insulating material to distort in the presence of an electric field. The larger the tendency for charge distortion (also called electric polarization), the larger the value of the permittivity.
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