A close look at the definitions of “coercivity” reveals two distinct notions: one referring to the hysteresis loop for B vs H and the other to that of M vs H. These are confused in several books. The properties of the M vs H loop are often ascribed to the B vs H loop, giving rise to various misconceptions. In this note we highlight a number of misconceptions and misinterpretations in the textbook presentations of the hysteresis loop for ferromagnets. This brief report is aimed at helping faculty become aware of the existence of problems in the current literature.

Topics
Ferromagnetic materials, Magnetic materials, Educational aids, Books
1.
H. W. F.
Sung
and
C.
Rudowicz
, “
A closer look at the hysteresis loop for ferromagnets—A survey of misconceptions and misinterpretations in textbooks,” http://arxiv.org/list/
cond-mat/0210657.
2.
H. W. F.
Sung
and
C.
Rudowicz
, “
Physics behind the magnetic hysteresis loop—a survey of misconceptions in magnetism literature
,”
J. Magn. Magn. Mater.
260
,
250
–
260
(
2003
).
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3.
C.
Rudowicz
, “
On the fundamental conceptual problems in magnetism,” http://arxiv.org/list/
cond-mat/0304099.
4.
S. R. Elliott, The Physics and Chemistry of Solids (Wiley, Chichester, 1998), p. 630.
5.
I. Wilson, Engineering Solids (McGraw–Hill, London, 1979), pp. 119–123.
6.
D. D. Pollock, Physics of Engineering Materials (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1990), pp. 587–589.
7.
D. D. Pollock, Physical of Materials for Engineers (CRC, Boca Raton, 1985), Vol. II, pp. 138–139.
8.
R. J. Elliott and A. F. Gibson, An Introduction to Solid State Physics and its Applications (English Language Book Society, London, 1978), pp. 464–466.
9.
M. S. Rogalski and S. B. Palmer, Solid-State Physics (Gordon and Breach Science, Sydney, Australia, 2000), p. 379.
10.
A. J. Compton, Basic Electromagnetism and its Applications (Van Nostrand Reinhold, Berkshire, 1986), pp. 97–98.
11.
R. A. Flinn and P. K. Trojan, Engineering Materials and Their Applications (Houghton Mifflin, Dallas, 1990), pp. S178–S182.
12.
Z. D. Jastrzebski, The Nature and Properties of Engineering Materials (Wiley, New York, 1987), pp. 482–485.
13.
J. P. Jakubovics, Magnetism and Magnetic Materials (The Institute of Materials, Cambridge, 1994).
14.
G. T. Murray, Introduction to Engineering Materials Behavior, Properties, and Selection (Marcel Dekker, New York, 1993), pp. 529–531.
15.
B. Chalmers, The Structure and Properties of Solids (Heyden, London, 1982), pp. 46–49.
16.
K. G. Budinski, Engineering Materials Properties and Selection (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1996), p. 28.
17.
K. G. Budinski and M. K. Budinski, Engineering Materials Properties and Selection (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1999), pp. 29–30.
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© 2003 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2003
American Association of Physics Teachers
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