Magnetic Permeability is a term analogous to permittivity in electrostatics. It basically tells us about the number of magnetic lines of force that are passing through a given substance when it is kept in an external magnetic field. The number is the indicator of the behaviour of the material in magnetic field. For superconductors χ = – 1. If you substitute in the Eq. (11.18), it is observed that permeability of material µ = 0. This means no magnetic lines will pass through the superconductor.
Magnetic Susceptibility (χ) is the indicator of measure of the response of a given material to the external applied magnetic field. In other words it indicates as to how much magnetization will be produced in a given substance when kept in an external magnetic field. Again it is analogous to electrical susceptibility. This means when the substance is kept in a magnetic field, the atomic dipole moments either align or oppose the external magnetic field. If the atomic dipole moments of the substance are opposing the field, χ is observed to be negative, and if the atomic dipole moments align themselves in the direction of field, χ is observed to be positive. The number of atomic dipole moments of getting aligned in the direction of the applied magnetic field is proportional to χ. It is large for soft iron (χ >1000).