Magnetic dipoles[edit]

Main article: Magnetic dipole

A very common source of magnetic field found in nature is a dipole, with a "South pole" and a
"North pole", terms dating back to the use of magnets as compasses, interacting with the Earth's
magnetic field to indicate North and South on the globe. Since opposite ends of magnets are
attracted, the north pole of a magnet is attracted to the south pole of another magnet. The
Earth's North Magnetic Pole (currently in the Arctic Ocean, north of Canada) is physically a south
pole, as it attracts the north pole of a compass. A magnetic field contains energy, and physical
systems move toward configurations with lower energy. When diamagnetic material is placed in
a magnetic field, a magnetic dipole tends to align itself in opposed polarity to that field, thereby
lowering the net field strength. When ferromagnetic material is placed within a magnetic field, the
magnetic dipoles align to the applied field, thus expanding the domain walls of the magnetic
domains.

Magnetic monopoles[edit]
Main article: Magnetic monopole

Since a bar magnet gets its ferromagnetism from electrons distributed evenly throughout the bar,
when a bar magnet is cut in half, each of the resulting pieces is a smaller bar magnet. Even
though a magnet is said to have a north pole and a south pole, these two poles cannot be
separated from each other. A monopole—if such a thing exists—would be a new and
fundamentally different kind of magnetic object. It would act as an isolated north pole, not
attached to a south pole, or vice versa. Monopoles would carry "magnetic charge" analogous to
electric charge. Despite systematic searches since 1931, as of 2010, they have never been
observed, and could very well not exist.[18]
Nevertheless, some theoretical physics models predict the existence of these magnetic
monopoles. Paul Dirac observed in 1931 that, because electricity and magnetism show a
certain symmetry, just as quantum theory predicts that individual positive or negative electric
charges can be observed without the opposing charge, isolated South or North magnetic poles
should be observable. Using quantum theory Dirac showed that if magnetic monopoles exist,
then one could explain the quantization of electric charge—that is, why the observed elementary
particles carry charges that are multiples of the charge of the electron.
Certain grand unified theories predict the existence of monopoles which, unlike elementary
particles, are solitons (localized energy packets). The initial results of using these models to
estimate the number of monopoles created in the Big Bang contradicted cosmological
observations—the monopoles would have been so plentiful and massive that they would have
long since halted the expansion of the universe. However, the idea of inflation (for which this
problem served as a partial motivation) was successful in solving this problem, creating models
in which monopoles existed but were rare enough to be consistent with current observations. [19]

Units[edit]
SI[edit]
SI electromagnetism units

 v
 t
 e
Symbol[20 Name of quantity Unit name Symbo Base units
 ]
l

Q electric charge coulomb C A⋅s

A (= W/V =
I electric current ampere A
C/s)

ampere per square
J electric current density A/m2 A⋅m−2
metre

U, ΔV, potential difference; electromotive J/C =

volt V
Δφ; E force kg⋅m2⋅s−3⋅A−1

electric V/A =
R; Z; X ohm Ω
resistance; impedance; reactance kg⋅m2⋅s−3⋅A−2

ρ resistivity ohm metre Ω⋅m kg⋅m3⋅s−3⋅A−2

V⋅A =
P electric power watt W
kg⋅m2⋅s−3

C/V =
C capacitance farad F kg−1⋅m−2⋅A2⋅s
4

ΦE electric flux volt metre V⋅m kg⋅m3⋅s−3⋅A−1

N/C =
E electric field strength volt per metre V/m
kg⋅m⋅A−1⋅s−3

coulomb per squar
D electric displacement field C/m2 A⋅s⋅m−2
e metre

kg−1⋅m−3⋅A2⋅s
ε permittivity farad per metre F/m 4

χe electric susceptibility (dimensionless) 1 1

Ω−1 =
conductance; admittance; susceptan
G; Y; B siemens S kg−1⋅m−2⋅s3⋅A
ce 2

kg−1⋅m−3⋅s3⋅A
κ, γ, σ conductivity siemens per metre S/m 2

Wb/m2 =
magnetic flux density, magnetic
B tesla T kg⋅s−2⋅A−1 =
induction
N⋅A−1⋅m−1

Φ, ΦM, Φ V⋅s =
magnetic flux weber Wb
B kg⋅m2⋅s−2⋅A−1

H magnetic field strength ampere per metre A/m A⋅m−1

 Wb/A =
L, M inductance henry H V⋅s/A =
kg⋅m2⋅s−2⋅A−2

μ permeability henry per metre H/m kg⋅m⋅s−2⋅A−2

χ magnetic susceptibility (dimensionless) 1 1

Other[edit]
 gauss – the centimeter-gram-second (CGS) unit of magnetic field (denoted B).
 oersted – the CGS unit of magnetizing field (denoted H)
 maxwell – the CGS unit for magnetic flux
 gamma – a unit of magnetic flux density that was commonly used before the tesla came
into use (1.0 gamma = 1.0 nanotesla)
 μ0 – common symbol for the permeability of free space (4π × 10−7 newton/(ampere-turn)2)

Living things