Field just outside a long solenoid

Jason Farley and Richard H. Price

Citation: Am. J. Phys. 69, 751 (2001); doi: 10.1119/1.1362694

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Field just outside a long solenoid
Jason Farley and Richard H. Price
Department of Physics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112
共Received 16 October 2000; accepted 23 January 2001兲
Simple lessons about static magnetic fields are often taught with the model of an ‘‘infinite’’
solenoid, outside of which the fields vanish. Just outside a very long but finite solenoid of length L,
the field must be a decreasing function of L. We show that this external field is approximately
uniform and decreases as L ⫺2 . Furthermore, we show that the study of this external field provides
interesting and surprisingly simple illustrations of techniques for analyzing magnetic fields. © 2001
American Association of Physics Teachers.
关DOI: 10.1119/1.1362694兴
I. INTRODUCTION
In introductory courses in electromagnetism an ‘‘infinite’’
solenoid provides a simple example of how to use Ampère’s
law. By using the symmetry of an infinite solenoid, the result
ᠬ in inside the long solenoid is
is found that the magnetic field B
parallel to the solenoid axis, is uniform 共independent of po-
sition兲, and has magnitude
B in⫽ ␮ 0 nI, 共1兲
where n is the number of turns per unit length, I is the con-
stant current, and ␮ 0 is the permeability of free space. The
derivation of this result, applicable to a solenoid of any cross
section, requires the assumption that the field outside the
solenoid is negligible. Sometimes this is stated without
justification,1 or on vague arguments.2 Sometimes a justifi-
cation is based on sketches of field lines.3 At best, such ar-
guments leave unanswered the question of just how small the
external field is, and how it depends on the length of the
solenoid.
Figure 1 shows the basic configuration of interest. We use
L to denote the length of the solenoid, and shall take the axis
of the solenoid to be the z axis. 共The solenoid ‘‘axis’’ is any
axis passing generally near the center of the cross section.兲
The midpoint of the solenoid will be at z⫽0, so that the ends
of the solenoid are at ⫾L/2. The cross section will be of area
A, and will be of arbitrary shape, except in specific numerical
examples. For simplicity of description, we shall assume that
the cross section does not have an extreme aspect ratio, so
that 冑A is a characteristic transverse size of the solenoid. 共It
is straightforward to modify the results below in the case that
there is a transverse dimension that is much larger than 冑A.兲
In our notation a ‘‘long’’ solenoid is one for which L
Ⰷ 冑A. By the external field just outside the solenoid, we
mean the magnetic field at a point outside the solenoid that is
at a distance from the solenoid small compared to L 共but not
necessarily small compared to 冑A兲. The point must be at a
value of z that is in the range ⫺L/2⬍z⬍L/2, and is not part
of the fringe field ‘‘too close’’ to the end. More specifically,
the z coordinate of the point must satisfy L/2⫺ 兩 z 兩 Ⰷ 冑A. We
ignore the effects of the finite pitch of the winding. Equiva-
lently, we take n to be arbitrarily large and I arbitrarily small,
in the finite product nI. At distances from the solenoid that
are much larger than L, the magnetic field is no longer ap-
proximately uniform, but rather is the dipole field produced
by the solenoid’s dipole moment
751 Am. J. Phys. 69 共7兲, July 2001 http://ojps.aip.org/ajp/
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m⬅nILA. 共2兲
Figure 2 helps to illustrate several of the regions outside a
long solenoid.
The details of the distant dipole field are simple, but it
might seem that for the external field ‘‘just outside’’ the
solenoid, a quantitative answer is messy, is specific to the
shape of the solenoid cross section, and requires lengthy and
difficult calculations. In fact, the details of this field are
simple and are independent of cross section. Steps in deriv-
ing the answer for the most part require only general argu-
ments. Even the most difficult step is within the scope of a
calculus-based introductory course. The exploration of this
question therefore provides very useful pedagogical ex-
amples. For this reason, it is surprising that the answer, let
alone the pedagogy, do not seem to be available in the
literature.4 We remedy this with the present paper.
The paper is organized as follows. In Sec. I we give a very
simple general argument to show that 共for constant nI兲 the
external field just outside the solenoid decreases as L ⫺2 . In
Sec. III we use a more detailed argument to show that the
external field just outside the solenoid is approximately uni-
form and in general has a field strength
2 A
B ext⫽ B , 共3兲
␲ L 2 in
where B in is the field inside the solenoid, or equivalently
2␮0 m
B ext⫽ , 共4兲
␲ L3
where m is the dipole moment of the solenoid. A comparison
of this expression with numerical results is presented in Sec.
IV, and conclusions are briefly stated in Sec. V.
II. FALLOFF OF EXTERNAL FIELD AS L À2
To find the falloff of the external field we start by con-
structing a closed surface like that shown in Fig. 3. One part
of the surface is a circular disk, of radius R centered on the z
axis. The surface is completed with a hemisphere of radius R.
Through this closed surface the total magnetic flux integral
ᠬ "n̂dArea must vanish. We now consider the flux through
养B
the hemisphere in the limit RⰇL. At distances rⰇL, the
field outside the solenoid is predominately a dipole field, and
the magnitude of B ᠬ decreases as r ⫺3 . With increasing R the
area of the hemisphere increases as R 2 , so the flux integral
© 2001 American Association of Physics Teachers 751
 Fig. 1. General problem of the magnetic field outside a long solenoid.
兰Bᠬ "n̂dArea on the hemisphere must decrease as R ⫺1 . We
conclude that the flux through the hemisphere vanishes as
R→⬁.
Since the flux through the infinite hemisphere is zero, the
flux through the infinite disk must be zero. There are two
contributions to the flux through the disk. There is the flux
inside flux⫽B inA⫽ ␮ 0 nIA
of the strong fields inside the solenoid. This must be can-
celed by the fields outside the solenoid. We first ask whether
the distant dipole field can provide sufficient negative flux.
At a distance r from the solenoid axis, the dipole field is
␮0 m ␮ 0 InLA
B z ⫽⫺ 3 ⫽⫺ . 共6兲
4␲ r 4␲ r3
Let us suppose that the dipole approximation is valid for
distances r larger than some minimum distance r min . The
flux through the disk for r⬎r min is
dipole flux⫽ 冕 ⬁
r min
B z 2 ␲ r dr⫽⫺
␮ 0 nILA
2 r min
. 共7兲
The dipole approximation is valid only at distances large
compared to L, so r min must be large compared to L and the
dipole flux is too small to cancel the flux in Eq. 共5兲. It must
therefore be canceled by the external fields just outside the
solenoids, the fields at distances r smaller than L. The area
associated with this flux is of order L 2 , so the flux of the
external fields just outside the solenoid is of order
Fig. 2. Field regions outside a long solenoid.
752 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 69, No. 7, July 2001
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Fig. 3. A closed surface consisting of a disk and a hemisphere.
near field flux⬃⫺B extL 2 . 共8兲
A comparison with Eq. 共5兲 gives us the answer for the de-
pendence of the external field on the solenoid length
共5兲
␮ 0 nIA
B ext⬃ . 共9兲
L2
III. MAGNITUDE OF EXTERNAL FIELD
To simplify a more careful analysis of the external fields
we will confine our attention to the z⫽0 median plane of the
solenoid, that is, to the plane perpendicular to the axis of the
solenoid and equidistant from its ends. In that plane, by sym-
metry, the transverse components B x and B y of the magnetic
field must vanish. A simple argument helps us quantify how
these transverse components change away from the median
plane. A line of the magnetic field for a long solenoid, as
pictured in Fig. 4, must be approximately parallel to the so-
lenoid axis for the length of the solenoid 共except in the re-
gion of the fringe fields near the solenoid ends兲. The trans-
verse component of the magnetic field must therefore be
small compared to the magnitude of the field for values of z
less than L. If we assume that the transverse component var-
ies smoothly we can conclude that
ជ ⬃ 兩 Bជ 兩 ␣ z,
tranverse component of B 共10兲
⫺1
with ␣ of order L .
This result, along with ⵜ⫻B ជ ⫽0, can now be used to
prove that the field in the median plane has certain unifor-
mity properties. Since ⳵ B y / ⳵ z⬃ 兩 B ជ 兩 ␣ we have that ⳵ B z / ⳵ y
⬃ 兩 Bជ 兩 ␣ , and similarly that ⳵ B z / ⳵ x⬃ 兩 B
ជ 兩 ␣ . This tells us that
B z varies negligibly over distances much smaller than L. We
conclude that the field in the median plane, at distances out-
Fig. 4. Magnetic field line outside a long solenoid.
J. Farley and R. H. Price 752
 Fig. 5. Mutual inductance between a long solenoid and a ring.
side the solenoid that are small compared to L, is a uniform
field. It is intuitively clear that this applies not only to the
median plane, but to all the region just outside the solenoid,
except too near the fringe fields at the solenoid ends.
With uniformity in the median plane established, we are
now ready to derive the magnitude of the external fields just
outside the long solenoid. To do this we place an imaginary
one-turn circular loop of radius R in the median plane of the
solenoid as shown in Fig. 5. We choose RⰆL so that the
loop remains in the region just outside the solenoid. We also
take R 2 to be large compared to the solenoid cross section,
and position the circular loop so that its center lies some-
where near the middle of the solenoid cross section. We label
the long solenoid as circuit #1, and label the circular loop as
circuit #2. We now use the reflexive property of mutual in-
ductance, that for the mutual inductance M between these
two circuits M 12⫽M 21 . 5 This is equivalent to the statement
that ⌽ 21 , the flux through circuit #2 due to a current I in
circuit #1, is equal to ⌽ 12 , the flux through circuit #1 due to
a current I in circuit #2.
For a current I in the circular loop, the magnetic field on
the z axis is given by the well known result
␮ 0 IR 2
B z⫽ . 共11兲
2 共 z 2 ⫹R 2 兲 3/2
Since we have assumed R 2 ⰇA we can take this field strength
to vary negligibly over the cross section of the long solenoid.
Every turn of wire in the long solenoid contributes a flux
B z A, and in a distance dz along the solenoid there are ndz
turns, so the total flux is
⌽ 12⫽A 冕 ⫹L/2
⫺L/2
B z n dz⫽
␮ 0 InA
冑1⫹4R 2 /L 2
⬇ ␮ 0 InA 共 1⫺2R 2 /L 2 兲 .
There are two contributions to the flux ⌽ 21 through the disk
bounded by the circular loop. One contribution is B inA due
to the strong fields inside the solenoid. There is also a flux
兰 B extdArea, with opposite sign, due to the external fields.
We write this negative flux as6
⫺ 冕 R
B ext2 ␲ r dr.
From ⌽ 12⫽⌽ 21 we have
m ␮ 0 InA 共 1⫺2R 2 /L 2 兲 ⫽B inA⫺ 冕 R
B ext2 ␲ r dr.
753 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 69, No. 7, July 2001
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Fig. 6. Computed magnetic field strength in the median plane for three
models. The dashed horizontal lines indicate the predicted value of the ex-
ternal field strength just outside the solenoid. The slanted straight line is the
dipole approximation for the field. See text for details.
By differentiating this equation with respect to R we get
2 ␮ 0 nIA
B ext⫽ . 共15兲
␲ L2
The results in Eqs. 共3兲 and 共4兲 follow immediately from this
and from Eqs. 共1兲 and 共2兲.
IV. NUMERICAL RESULTS
To illustrate the range of validity of the expression derived
in Sec. III we present here results for three long solenoids,
computed directly from the Biot–Savart law. All the model
solenoids have a current per unit length In of 104 A/m. The
geometric parameters of all the models are chosen so that the
product AL is 3⫻10⫺5 m3. All the models therefore have the
same value 0.3 A-m2 for their dipole moment, and hence at
distances large compared to L all models will have identical
fields.
Model 1 has a square cross section with side length 1 cm,
and a length of 30 cm. Figure 6 shows the field in the median
plane outside the solenoid as a function of the distance from
the axis along a line perpendicular to the side of the square
cross section. The dashed horizontal line represents the
共12兲 value, 0.088 88... G, of the external field given in Eq. 共15兲.
The plot shows that the external field is in agreement with
this value near the solenoid, and even at a distance of 4 cm is
only in error by 10%. The slanted straight line shows the
dipole approximation for the field, as given in Eq. 共6兲. The
plot shows that the dipole approximation is quite accurate for
model 1, even at moderate distances. For example, at a dis-
tance equal to L, the dipole approximation is wrong by less
共13兲
than 27%. In summary, the plot shows that the behavior of
the field outside the solenoid can be viewed as a smooth
transition from the value given in Eq. 共15兲, for distances
somewhat less than L, to the behavior described by Eq. 共6兲,
for distances somewhat greater than L.
共14兲
The next model is meant to show that the above picture is
independent of the shape of the solenoid. Model 2 is a sole-
J. Farley and R. H. Price 753
noid of length 20 cm with a circular cross section of radius
3/2␲ cm. Again, the external field has the value given in Eq.
共15兲, 0.3 G for this model, near the solenoid and 共with rea-
sonable accuracy兲 out to several cm. For distances greater
than around L the dipole approximation becomes quite accu-
rate. Model 3 is a solenoid of length 15 cm with a square
cross section of side length & cm. As was done with Model
1, the field is plotted as a function of distance from the center
along a line perpendicular to a side. The plot shows the same
close and far behavior as for the previous two models. This
model has a ratio of L to transverse size of only around 10:1,
so the long-solenoid prediction in Eq. 共15兲 is less accurate in
this model than in the other two, but it is still good to around
2% just outside the solenoid. 共Model 2 is good to better than
1%, and Model 1 to a fraction of a percent.兲
V. CONCLUSIONS
We have shown that the determination of the field just
outside a long solenoid can be carried out with relatively
simple arguments involving magnetic flux, and that the result
has the same sort of simplicity and universality as the well-
known result for the field strength inside a long solenoid. In
particular, the field is uniform and is independent of the
shape of the cross section. With our result for the field
strength just outside the solenoid, and with the dipole ap-
proximation for transverse distances greater than the sole-
noid length, the field strength can be approximated every-
where in the transverse median plane to within a factor of 2
or so.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
One of us 共RP兲 gratefully acknowledges the support of the
National Science Foundation under Grant No. PHY9734871.
1
See, for example, D. C. Giancoli, Physics, 3rd ed. 共Prentice–Hall, Engle-
wood Cliffs, NJ, 1991兲, Sec. 20-12.
2
See, for example, L. S. Lerner, Physics for Scientists and Engineers 共Jones
and Bartlett, Boston, 1996兲, Sec. 29.4. Here it is argued that the external
field must be weak since it fills an infinte space.
3
See, for example, Fig. 30.14 of R. Serway, Physics for Scientists and
Engineers 共Saunders, Philadelphia, 1990兲, or Fig. 30-28 in R. Wolfson and
J. M. Pasachoff, Physics, 3rd ed. 共Addison–Wesley, Reading, MA, 1999兲.
4
In the special case of a circular cross section solenoid, the symmetry
allows an analytic treatment of the fields just outside the solenoid. See J.
D. Jackson, Classical Electrodynamics, 3rd ed. 共Wiley, New York, 1998兲,
Prob. 5.5.
5
This symmetry of mutual inductance is usually stated in introductory texts,
but no proof is given. See for example, R. Serway, Physics for Scientists
and Engineers 共Saunders, Philadelphia, 1990兲, Sec. 32.4; R. Wolfson and
J. M. Pasachoff, Physics, 3rd ed. 共Addison–Wesley, Reading, MA, 1999兲,
Sec. 32.1; D. C. Giancoli, Physics, 3rd ed. 共Prentice–Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, NJ, 1991兲, Sec. 21-9; L. S. Lerner, Physics for Scientists and En-
gineers 共Jones and Bartlett, Boston, 1996兲, Sec. 31.2. The symmetry is
usually proven in junior-level texts by the presentation of the Neumann
formula. See, for example, D. J. Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynam-
ics, 3rd ed. 共Prentice–Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1999兲, Sec. 7.2.3J. R.
Reitz and F. J. Milford, Foundations of Electromagnetic Theory
共Addison–Wesley, Reading, MA, 1960兲, Sec. 9.4; W. K. H. Panofsky and
M. Phillips, Classical Electricity and Magnetism 共Addison-Wesley, Read-
ing, MA, 1955兲, Sec. 10-3.
6
Since the inner boundary of the region of integration will not be at con-
stant r this form of the integral is not really justified, but the use to which
it will be put in the subsequent steps involves only the outer boundary.

WHILE POETRY TITILLATES AND THEOLOGY OBFUSCATES

Scientists, with their implicit trust in reductionism, are privileged to be at the summit of
knowledge, and to see further into truth than any of their contemporaries. They are busy in the
public domain, where truth can be tested by shared experience, where truth supervenes interna-
tional boundaries and cultures. Scientists liberate truth from prejudice, and through their work lend
wings to society’s aspirations. While poetry titillates and theology obfuscates, science liberates.

P. W. Atkins, ‘‘The Limitless Power of Science,’’ in Nature’s Imagination—The Frontiers of Scientific Vision, edited by
John Cornwell 共Oxford University Press, New York, 1995兲.

754 Am. J. Phys., Vol. 69, No. 7, July 2001 J. Farley and R. H. Price 754

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