What is hysteresis?
An intuitive explanation of hysteresis is that it is a property of a system where the system wants to remain in the state that it is in – it has memory. Examples of systems with hysteresis: * Thermostats – without hysteresis your heater would be constantly switching on and off as the temperature changed. A working thermostat has a few degrees of hysteresis. As the temperature gradually increases, at some point the thermostat switches off. However, the temperature then needs to drop a few degrees for it to switch on again. * Toggle switches – the click of a toggle switch provides hysteresis to assure that small vibrations, for example, will not accidentally flip the switch. Examples of systems which ideally have little or no hysteresis: * Audio amplifiers – input vs. output. * Pendulums on frictionless bearings – force vs. position. Hysteresis is usually added thermostats by the use of a spring mechanism which causes the mechanism to want to be in either the open or closed position but
An intuitive explanation of hysteresis is that it is a property of a system where the system wants to remain in the state that it is in – it has memory. Examples of systems with hysteresis: • Thermostats – without hysteresis your heater would be constantly switching on and off as the temperature changed. A working thermostat has a few degrees of hysteresis. As the temperature gradually increases, at some point the thermostat switches off. However, the temperature then needs to drop a few degrees for it to switch on again. • Toggle switches – the click of a toggle switch provides hysteresis to assure that small vibrations, for example, will not accidentally flip the switch. Examples of systems which ideally have little or no hysteresis: • Audio amplifiers – input vs. output. • Pendulums on frictionless bearings – force vs. position. Hysteresis is usually added thermostats by the use of a spring mechanism which causes the mechanism to want to be in either the open or closed position but
