Term: hysteresis https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.H02930 Definition: Regarding a material quantity or instrument's reading; the dependence of a value on the direction of change from a previous characteristic value. It may be quantified by the difference between the upscale and downscale variation starting from fixed lower and upper measurement points (inversion). Related Terms: 1) reading (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.R05189). 2) inversion (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.I03146). Source: PAC, 1990, 62, 2167. 'Glossary of atmospheric chemistry terms (Recommendations 1990)' on page 2196 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199062112167) Citation: 'hysteresis' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.H02930 License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms. Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.