Chapter 5:

Magnetostatics
 Magnetic Fields
The fundamental problem electrodynamics tries to solve is the following:

If we have some electric charges, q1, q2 , q3 , ... (source charges); what force do they
exert on another charge, Q (test charge)?

So far, we have confined our attention to the simplest case, electrostatics, in which the
source charge is at rest (though the test charge need not be). Now we will consider the
forces between charges in motion.
Right: Currents in same directions attract.
Currents in opposite directions repel. The
wires are electrically neutral (there are as
many stationary positive charges as moving
negative charges on any given segment), so
the forces are not electrostatic in nature.
Bottom: electron beam deflects when
current flows through the coils.
Currents also deflect magnetic compass
needle – so above forces are magnetic in
nature.
Whereas a stationary charge
produces only an electric
field E in the space around
it, a moving charge
generates, in addition, a
magnetic field B.

Now, if we place compass needles in the vicinity of a

current-carrying wire, we quickly discover a very
peculiar thing: The field does not point toward the wire,
nor away from it, but rather it circles around the wire. In
fact, if you grab the wire with your right hand-thumb in
the direction of the current-your fingers curl around in
the direction of the magnetic field. How can such a field
lead to a force of attraction on a nearby parallel current?
At the second wire, the magnetic field points into the
page, the current is upward, and yet the resulting force is
to the left! It's going to take a strange law to account for
these directions.
 Magnetic Forces
The magnetic force on a charge Q, moving with velocity v in a magnetic field B, is

This is known as the Lorentz force law. In the presence of both electric and magnetic
fields, the net force on Q would be

Example 5.1. Cyclotron motion.

The typical motion of a charged particle in a magnetic field is
circular, with the magnetic force providing the centripetal
acceleration. In the figure, a uniform magnetic field points into the
page; if the charge Q moves counterclockwise perpendicular to B,
with speed v, around a circle of radius R, the magnetic force points
inward, and has a fixed magnitude :

where m is the particle's mass and p = mv is its momentum. This result is known as the
cyclotron formula because it describes the motion of a particle in a cyclotron-the first of
the modem particle accelerators.
Comparison of Motion of Particles in Electric and
Magnetic Fields
• Electric force vector • Magnetic force vector perpendicular to
along direction of electric magnetic field
field
• Electric force acts on • Magnetic force acts on charged
charged particle particle only when particle is in motion
regardless of whether
particle is moving
• Electric force does work • Magnetic force associated with steady
in displacing a charged magnetic field (magnetostatics) does
particle no work when a particle is displaced
 Currents
The current in a wire is the charge per unit time passing a given
point. Current is measured in coulombs-per-second, or amperes
(A): 1 A = 1 C/s. The direction of the current is the direction
in which positive charges flow when free to do so.

Charges moving down a wire with speed v can be thought of as

a line of charge of linear charge density  moving down the
wire.

The charge that passes point P in time t is the charge

contained within a length vt → Q = vt.
𝑄
𝐼 = = v
t
Current is actually a vector:

Note that the charge density  refers only to the moving charges.
The magnetic force on a segment of current-carrying wire is

As both I and d l usually point in the same direction, we can as well write the force as

Typically, the current is constant (in magnitude) along the wire, and in that case I comes outside
the integral:
When charge flows over a surface, we describe it by the surface current density, K,
defined as follows: Consider a "ribbon" of infinitesimal width 𝑑𝑙⊥ , running parallel to
the flow. If the current in this ribbon is d l, the surface current density is

In words, K is the current per unit width.

In particular, if the (mobile) surface charge
density is  and its velocity is v, then

In general, K will vary from point to point over the surface, reflecting variations in  and/or v.
The magnetic force on the surface current is

Warning: Just as E suffers a discontinuity at a surface charge, so B is discontinuous at a surface

current. You must be careful to use the average field (of the fields above and below the surface),
just as we did in Chapter 2.
When the flow of charge is distributed throughout a three-dimensional region, we
describe it by the volume current density, J, defined as follows: Consider a "tube" of
infinitesimal cross section 𝑑𝑎⊥ , running parallel to the flow. If the current in this tube
is dl, the volume current density is

In words, J is the current per unit area. If the (mobile)

volume charge density is  and the velocity is v, then

The magnetic force on a volume current is therefore

The total current crossing a surface S can be written as

In particular, the charge per unit time leaving a volume 𝒱 is

Because charge is conserved, whatever flows out through the surface must come at the
expense of what remains inside:

(The minus sign reflects the fact that an outward flow decreases the charge left in 𝒱.)
Since this applies to any volume, we conclude that

This is the precise mathematical statement of local charge

conservation; it is called the continuity equation.
 THE BIOT-SAVART LAW
Steady current: a continuous flow that has been going on forever, without change and
without charge piling up anywhere.

At all places
and all times

When a steady current flows in a wire, its magnitude I must be the same all along the
line; otherwise, charge would be piling up somewhere, and it wouldn’t be a steady
current.

𝜕𝜌
Since charge is not piling up anywhere, = 0 in magnetostatics, and the continuity
𝜕𝑡
equation becomes
 The Magnetic Field of a Steady Current
The magnetic field of a steady line current is given by the Biot-Savart law:

As the starting point for magnetostatics, the Biot-Savart law plays a role analogous to
Coulomb's law in electrostatics. Indeed, the 1/r2 dependence is common to both laws.
 Example 5.5 (3 rd and 4 th Eds.)
Find the magnetic field a distance s from a long straight wire carrying a steady current I.

This result gives the field of any straight segment of

wire, in terms of the initial and final angles 1 and 2.
As an application, let's find the force of attraction between two long, parallel wires a
distance d apart, carrying currents I1 and I2. The field at (2) due to (1) is

into the page

The Lorentz force law predicts a force directed towards (1), of
magnitude
If the currents are anti parallel (one up, one down), the force is repulsive.
 Example 5.6 (3 rd and 4 th Eds.)
Find the magnetic field a distance z above the center of a circular loop of radius R,
which carries a steady current I.
 Problem 5.11 (3 rd and 4 th Eds.)
Find the magnetic field at point P on the axis of a tightly wound solenoid (helical coil)
consisting of n turns per unit length wrapped around a cylindrical tube of radius a and
carrying current I (Fig. 5.25). Express your answer in terms of 1 and 2 (it's easiest that
way). Consider the turns to be essentially circular, and use the result of Ex. 5.6. What is
the field on the axis of an infinite solenoid (infinite in both directions)?

To use the result of Example 5.6, we start by considering a ring of width dz that behaves
as a current loop with a total current of (ndz)I and replace R with a, then
Note: The infinite solenoid in magnetism plays the role of the
parallel-plate capacitor in electricity while the infinte wire plays the
role of the point charge.
The superposition principle applies to magnetic fields just as it does to electric fields: if
you have a collection of source currents, the net field is the (vector) sum of the fields
due to each of them taken separately.
 THE DIVERGENCE AND CURL OF B
Ampère's Law
Starting with the Biot-Savart law for the general case of a volume current

We can show that

Which is known as Ampère's law (in differential

form).
It can be converted to integral form by applying Stokes' theorem:

Ampère's law (in integral form).

Ienc is the total current passing through the surface (the current enclosed by the
Amperian loop).
To determine the direction through the surface corresponding to a "positive" current, we
use the right-hand rule: If the fingers of your right hand indicate the direction of
integration around the boundary, then your thumb defines the direction of a positive
current.

In particular, for currents with appropriate symmetry, Ampere's law in integral form
offers an efficient way of calculating the magnetic field.
 Example 5.7 (3 rd and 4 th Eds.)
Find the magnetic field a distance s from a long straight wire, carrying a steady current I
(the same problem we solved in Ex. 5.5, using the Biot-Savart law).

By the right-hand rule, the direction of B is "circumferential,"

circling around the wire: ෠
𝐁 = 𝐵𝜙
d𝐥 = 𝑑𝑙 𝜙෠
By symmetry, the magnitude of B is constant around an
Amperian loop of radius s, centered on the wire. So Ampère's
law gives

This is the same answer we got in Example 5.5, but it was obtained this time with far
less effort.
 Example 5.8 (3 rd and 4 th Eds.)
Find the magnetic field of an infinite uniform surface current 𝐊 = 𝐾 𝐱ො , flowing over the
xy plane .

From Biot-Savart law for surface current

B is perpendicular to K so it cannot have an x-component.

Also, B cannot have a z-component since the vertical contribution from a current filament at
+y is canceled by the corresponding current filament at – y. 1 z
𝐵 −𝐲ො , for 𝑧 > 0
𝐁=ቊ
𝐵 +𝐲ො , for 𝑧 < 0
2
Therefore, we draw a rectangular Amperian loop as y
shown in the Figure, parallel to the y z plane and 1 2
extending an equal distance above and below the
surface. Applying Ampere's law,
(one Bl comes from the top segment and the
other from the bottom),

Notice that the field is independent of the distance from the plane, just like the electric
field of a uniform surface charge. Also notice that it is uniform above and below the
current and suffers a discontinuity of magnitude 𝜇0 𝐾 at the surface.
 Problem 5.16 (3rd Ed.) or 5.17 (4th Ed.)
A large parallel-plate capacitor with uniform surface charge  on the upper plate and - 
on the lower is moving with a constant speed v, as shown in the Figure.
(a) Find the magnetic field between the plates and also above and below them.
(b) Find the magnetic force per unit area on the upper plate, including its direction.
(c) At what speed v would the magnetic force balance the electrical force?

(a) z
y

x
𝐊 + = 𝜎𝑣𝐱ො
𝐁=0
𝐊 − = −𝜎𝑣𝐱ො
𝐁 = 𝜇0 𝜎𝑣 𝐲ො
𝐁=0
(b)

where B is the field of the lower plate at the location of the upper plate

(c) The electric field of the lower plate at the location of upper plate is down.

The electric force per unit area on the upper plate is

 MAGNETIC VECTOR POTENTIAL

such that since the divergence of a curl is always zero.

How to find A?
Substituting in Ampère's law in differential form

Since we can add to A any function whose curl vanishes (i.e., the gradient of
any scalar ), with no effect on B, it turns out that we can always find  that
makes the vector potential divergenceless
With this condition on A, Ampère's law becomes

This is nothing but Poisson's equation-or rather, it is three Poisson's equations,

one for each Cartesian component. Assuming J goes to zero at infinity, we can
the solution is:

Typically, the direction of A mimics the direction of the current. If the current
does not go to zero at infinity, we have to find other ways to get A.
 Example 5.11 (3rd and 4th Eds.)
A spherical shell of radius R, carrying a uniform surface charge , is set
spinning at angular velocity . Find the vector potential it produces at point r.

The spinning  gives rise to a surface current, therefore

Since and ' and is the angle between r and r', it would
be more convenient to align r with the z axis so that ' is the polar angle of r'.

r
Also orient the x
r axis so that  lies
'
 in the xz plane.
r'
The velocity of a point r' in a rotating rigid body is given by

Since and

only the shaded term will contribute to the integral.

Integrating over ' gives 2 so that
 2𝑟
𝜋
2
,𝑟 < 𝑅
න (… ) = 3𝑅
0
2𝑅
2
,𝑟 > 𝑅
3𝑟
Noting also that we get
We now need to revert to the "natural" coordinates, in which  coincides with
the z axis and the point r is at (r, ,  ), then
𝝎 = 𝜔ො𝒛 = 𝜔 cos 𝜃 𝐫ො − 𝜔 sin 𝜃 𝜽 ෡
𝝎 × 𝐫 = 𝜔 cos 𝜃 𝐫ො − 𝜔 sin 𝜃 𝜽 ෡
෡ × 𝑟ො𝐫 = +𝜔𝑟 sin 𝜃 𝝓

To find B use the curl in spherical coordinates

Inside the sphere

Uniform.
 Example 5.12 (3 rd and 4 th Eds.)
Find the vector potential of an infinite solenoid with n turns per unit length,
radius R, and current I.

Since the current extends to infinity we cannot use

or
But from Problem 5.11 we know that B is zero outside and longitudinal
(parallel to the axis) and uniform inside with magnitude
Our knowledge of B can help us obtain A. Note that employing Stokes’
theorem
R

This reminds us of Ampère's law and we can follow a similar approach.

Due to the symmetry and since the direction of A mimics the direction of the
current, A is circumferential: 𝐀 = 𝐴𝝓, ෡ and is uniform in magnitude at points
equidistant from the axis.
Using circular "Amperian loops" at radius s inside (or outside) the solenoid and
෡
parallel to the cross section of the solenoid: dl= 𝑠 𝑑𝜙𝝓.

Inside the solenoid, we have

Outside the solenoid, we have

Check: In cylindrical coordinates

𝜇0 𝑛𝐼ො𝒛 ,𝑠 < 𝑅
∇×𝐀= =𝐁
0 ,𝑠 > 𝑅
 Boundary Conditions
Just as the electric field suffers a discontinuity at a surface charge, so the
magnetic field is discontinuous at a surface current. Only this time it is the
tangential component that changes.

Since , the divergence theorem yields

Applying this to a wafer-thin pillbox straddling the

surface, we get ෝ
𝐧
For the tangential components, we use an Amperian loop
running perpendicular to the current:

Ienc = Kl
 ෝ
𝐧

Ienc = 0
As for the vector potential A:
the normal component is continuous
the tangential components are
continuous (the flux through an
Amperian loop of vanishing
thickness is zero).
Like the scalar potential in electrostatics, the vector potential is continuous
across any boundary:

But the derivative of A inherits the discontinuity of B:

 Problem 5.31 (3rd Ed.) or 5.32 (4th Ed.)
(a) Check the boundary condition on B, for the
infinite solenoid.

𝐊 = 𝑛𝐼𝝓෡
ෝ = 𝐬ො
𝐧
Let inside  below and outside  above
ෝ = 𝐬ො
𝐧
𝐁above − 𝐁below = 0 − 𝜇0 𝑛𝐼 𝒛ො = −𝜇0 𝑛𝐼 𝒛ො
K
෡ × 𝐬ො = −𝜇0 𝑛𝐼 𝒛ො
ෝ = 𝜇0 𝑛𝐼 𝝓
𝜇0 𝐊 × 𝐧
(b) Check the boundary conditions on A, , for
the spinning spherical shell.

below
On the surface r = R
𝜇0 𝑅2 𝜔𝜎 above
𝐀above = ෡ = 𝐀below
sin 𝜃𝝓
3
But
 Multipole Expansion of the Vector Potential
An approximate formula for the vector potential of a localized current
distribution, valid at distant points, can be obtained via a multipole expansion
of the potential.

Similar to the scalar potential V, the idea of a multipole expansion is to write

the potential in the form of a power series in 1/r, where r is the distance to the
point in question; if r is sufficiently large, the series will be dominated by the
lowest nonvanishing contribution, and the higher terms can be ignored.
As in the multipole expansion of V, we call the first term (which goes like 1/r)
the monopole term, the second (which goes like 1/r2) dipole, the third
quadrupole, and so on.

The magnetic monopole term is always zero, because the integral

is just the total vector displacement around a closed loop. This
reflects the fact that there are no magnetic monopoles in nature

In the absence of any monopole contribution, the dominant term is the dipole
(except in the rare case where it, too, vanishes).
m is independent of the choice of origin since the magnetic monopole moment
is always zero.
 Example 5.13 (3 rd and 4 th Eds.)
Find the magnetic dipole moment of the "bookend-shaped" loop shown in in
the figure. All sides have length w, and it carries a current I.

This wire could be considered the superposition of

two plane square loops as shown below. The "extra"
sides (AB) cancel when the two are put together, since
the currents flow in opposite directions.

The net magnetic dipole moment is

 Field of a Pure Dipole
A “pure or perfect” dipole for which the dipole term would be the exact
potential can be envisioned as an infinitesimally small loop at the origin with
the current approaching infinity so that the product m = I a is finite.
The magnetic field of a (perfect) dipole is easiest to calculate if we put m at the
origin and let it point in the z-direction. Then

This is identical in structure to the field of an electric dipole

Up close, however, the field of a physical magnetic dipole-a small current loop-
looks quite different from the field of a physical electric dipole-plus and minus
charges a short distance apart.

Magnetic dipoles

Electric dipoles
 Revisiting Spinning Spherical Shell

Comparing with the vector potential of a pure dipole

we note they both have the same behavior.

Therefore, outside the sphere the spinning
sphere produces exactly the field of a perfect
dipole with dipole moment:

with no higher multipole contributions.

The magnetic field outside the sphere will therefore be:
, with