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Ferromagnetic materials have _________ permeability and ___________ retentivity.

Asked in GSEB Board March 2023 · Dia, para and ferromagnetism

Answer: (1) high, high

Step-by-step solution

Idea: in a ferromagnet the atomic dipoles are locked parallel inside domains, and a modest field can swing whole domains round.

That gives a very large magnetisation for a small H, so χ1 and μᵣ=1+χ reaches 10³ to 10⁵: the permeability is high.

When the field is removed the domains do not go back to their random arrangement, so a large magnetisation remains: the retentivity is high as well.

How easily that remaining magnetisation can be destroyed - the coercivity - depends on the material: soft iron gives it up easily, steel does not. Both are ferromagnetic.

So ferromagnetic materials have high permeability and high retentivity.

Why the other options are wrong

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