In thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, the compressibility (also known as the coefficient of compressibility or, if the temperature is held constant, the isothermal compressibility) is a measure of the relative volume change of a fluid or solid as a response to a pressure (or mean stress) change. In its simple form, the compressibility
κ
{\displaystyle \kappa }
(denoted β in some fields) may be expressed as
κ
=
−
1
V
∂
V
∂
p
{\displaystyle \kappa =-{\frac {1}{V}}{\frac {\partial V}{\partial p}}}
,where V is volume and p is pressure. The choice to define compressibility as the negative of the fraction makes compressibility positive in the (usual) case that an increase in pressure induces a reduction in volume. The reciprocal of compressibility at fixed temperature is called the isothermal bulk modulus.