1 Answer
An example of hysteresis in everyday life can be seen in a door's spring mechanism.
Imagine you have a door with a spring that helps it close automatically. When you push the door open, the spring stretches, and the door moves away from its closed position. However, when you let go of the door, the spring will not immediately bring it back to the exact same spot it was before. The force required to open the door is different from the force required to close it, and the door doesn't just follow a simple path back. It “remembers” its position due to the energy stored in the spring, and the behavior of the door depends on whether it’s being pushed open or closed.
This is a form of hysteresis because the system (the door and spring) behaves differently depending on whether you're increasing or decreasing the force, and the door’s position at any point depends on its past states, not just its current conditions.
Imagine you have a door with a spring that helps it close automatically. When you push the door open, the spring stretches, and the door moves away from its closed position. However, when you let go of the door, the spring will not immediately bring it back to the exact same spot it was before. The force required to open the door is different from the force required to close it, and the door doesn't just follow a simple path back. It “remembers” its position due to the energy stored in the spring, and the behavior of the door depends on whether it’s being pushed open or closed.
This is a form of hysteresis because the system (the door and spring) behaves differently depending on whether you're increasing or decreasing the force, and the door’s position at any point depends on its past states, not just its current conditions.