Editing Hysteresis (section)

====Applications====
{{Main|Magnet#Common uses}}

There are a great variety of applications of the hysteresis in ferromagnets. Many of these make use of their ability to retain a memory, for example [[magnetic tape]], [[hard disks]], and [[credit card]]s. In these applications, ''hard'' magnets (high coercivity) like [[iron]] are desirable, such that as much energy is absorbed as possible during the write operation and the resultant magnetized information is not easily erased.

On the other hand, magnetically ''soft'' (low coercivity) iron is used for the cores in [[electromagnet]]s. The low coercivity minimizes the energy loss associated with hysteresis, as the magnetic field periodically reverses in the presence of an alternating current. The low energy loss during a hysteresis loop is the reason why soft iron is used for transformer cores and electric motors.