Dictionary:

permeability

  (pûr'mē-ə-bĭl'ĭ-tē)

1. The property or condition of being permeable.
2. The rate of flow of a liquid or gas through a porous material.

A measure of a material's ability to transmit liquids.
Example: Upon discovery of a Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) the soil beneath it was tested. The greater the permeability, the more rapidly the liquid could reach an underground stream or aquifer.

The degree to which one substance allows another substance to pass through it.

1. The property of a porous material which permits the passage of water vapor through it. Also See permeance.
2. The property of soil, rock, or mantle which permits water to flow through it.

The level or degree of the state of being permeable.

Measure of how much better a material is as a path for magnetic lines of force with respect to air which has a permeability of one. Symbolized by the Greek lower case letter mu (m).

Permeability, permeable and semipermeable have several meanings:

• Permeability (electromagnetism), is the degree of magnetization of a material in response to a magnetic field
• Permeability (fluid), is a measure of the ability of a material (such as rocks) to transmit fluids
• Semipermeable membrane, a membrane which will allow certain molecules or ions to pass through it by diffusion
• Permeability (nautical) in ship design is the percentage of empty space in a compartment or tank
• Vascular permeability, the movement of fluids and molecules between the vascular and extravascular compartments

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