Engineering

Physics
Dr. Rajesh Cheruku

Assistant Professor
Department of Physics
Central University of Karnataka
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Important Terms Used in Magnetism
Magnetic Induction ( B)

When a piece of any substance is placed in an

external magnetic field, the substance becomes
magnetized.
If an iron bar is placed in a uniform magnetic
field, the magnetized bar produces its own
magnetic field in the same direction as those
of the original field inside the bar, but in
opposite direction outside the bar.
This results in a concentration of the lines of force within the bar.

The magnetic flux density within the bar is increased whereas it becomes weak at certain
places outside the bar.
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“The number of magnetic lines of induction inside a magnetic substance crossing unit
area normal to their direction is called the magnitude of magnetic induction, or
magnetic flux density inside the substance”.

It is denoted by B. The SI unit of B is tesla (T) or weber/metre 2 (Wb/m2).

The CGS unit is gauss (G).

1Wb/m2 = 1T = 104 G

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Intensity of Magnetization ( I )

“Intensity of magnetization (I ) is defined as the magnetic moment per unit volume of

the magnetized substance.”

This basically represents the extent to which the substance is magnetized. Thus,

I= M/V

The SI unit of I is ampere/metre (A/m).

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Magnetic Permeability (μ)
“It is defined as the ratio of the magnetic induction B inside the magnetized substance to the
magnetic intensity H of the magnetizing field”, i.e.

μ =B/H
It is basically a measure of conduction of magnetic lines of force through it.

The SI unit of magnetic permeability is weber/ampere-metre (Wb/A-m).

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Magnetic Susceptibility (χm)

We know that both diamagnetic and paramagnetic substances develop a magnetic

moment depending on the applied field.

Magnetic susceptibility is a measure of how easily a substance is magnetized in a

magnetizing field.

For paramagnetic and diamagnetic substances, I, H and χ m are related by the

equation,

I = χm H or χm = I / H

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Thus, the magnetic susceptibility χm may be defined as the ratio of the intensity of
magnetization to the magnetic intensity of the magnetizing field.

Since, I and H have the same units, χm is unitless. It is a pure number.

By doing simple calculation, we can prove that μr and χm are related by

μr =1 + χm
For paramagnetic substances χm is slightly positive.

For diamagnetic substances, it is slightly negative and for ferromagnetic substances,

χm is positive and very large.

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Magnetic Materials
We know that the electric lines of force change when a dielectric is placed between the
parallel plates of a capacitor.
Experiments show that magnetic lines also get modified due to the presence of certain
materials in the magnetic field.

Few substances such as O2, air, platinum, aluminium etc., show a very small increase in the
magnetic flux passing through them, when placed in a magnetic field. Such substances are
called paramagnetic substances.

Few other substances such as H2, H2O, Cu, Zn, Sb etc. show a very small decrease in flux
and are said to be diamagnetic.

There are other substances like Fe, Co etc. through which the flux increases to a larger
value and are known as ferromagnetic substances.

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Magnetization of Matter
A material body is consisting of large number of atoms and thus large number of
electrons.
Each electron produces orbital and spin magnetic moments and can be assumed as
magnetic dipoles.
In the absence of any external magnetic field, the dipoles of individual atoms are
randomly oriented and the magnetic moments thus, cancel.

When we apply an external magnetic field to a substance, two processes may occur.

(i) All atoms which have non-zero magnetic moment are aligned along the magnetic field.

(ii) If the atom has a zero magnetic moment, the applied magnetic field distorts the electron
orbit and thus, induces magnetic moment in opposite directions.

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In diatomic substances, the individual atoms do not have a magnetic moment by its own.
When an external field is applied, the second process occurs.

The induced magnetic moment is thus set up in the direction opposite to B.

In this case, the magnetic flux density in the interior of the body will be less than that of the
external field B.

In paramagnetic substances, the constituent atoms have intrinsic magnetic moments.

When an external magnetic field is applied, both of the above processes occur and the
resultant magnetic moment is always in the direction of magnetic field B as the first effect
predominates over the second.

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Magnetic Force on a Current Carrying Conductor
Suppose a conducting wire carrying a current i
is placed in a magnetic field B. The length of
the wire is l and area of cross-section is A.

The free electrons drift with a speed vd opposite

to the direction of current. The magnetic force
exerted on the electron is

If n be the number of free electrons per unit volume of the wire, then total number of
electrons in volume A l of the wire are, n A l. Therefore, total force on the wire is

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If we denote the length l along the direction of the current by l, then the above equation
becomes
(1)

Where i= e n A vd

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(iv)
(a) For the magnetic force on an arbitrarily shaped wire segment, let us consider the magnetic
force exerted on a small segment of vector length dl,

(2)

To calculate the total force Fm acting on the

wire shown in Figure, we integrate Eq. (2) over
the length of the wire

(3)

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A curved wire ACD as shown in Figure carries a current i and is located in a uniform
magnetic field B. Because the field is uniform, we can take B outside the integral in Eq.
(3) and we obtain

(4)

(5)

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(iv)
(b) An arbitrarily shaped closed loop carrying a
current i is placed in a uniform magnetic field as
shown in Figure. We can again express the force
acting on the loop in the form of Eq. (4), but this time
we must take the vector sum of the length elements
dl over the entire loop

Because the set of length elements forms a closed polygon, the vector sum must be zero.

Fm= 0
Thus, the net magnetic force acting on any closed current carrying loop in a uniform
magnetic field is zero

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(v)

The direction of Fm can be given by

Fleming's left hand rule.

According to this rule, the forefinger, the

central finger and the thumb of the left
hand are stretched in such a way that they
are mutually perpendicular to each other.

If the central finger shows the direction of current (or l) and forefinger shows the
direction of magnetic field (B), then the thumb will give the direction of magnetic force
(Fm ).

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Question 1

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Question 2

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Question 3

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Question 4

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Magnetic Dipole
Every current carrying loop is a magnetic dipole. It has two poles: south (S) and north
(N). This is similar to a bar magnet.

Magnetic field lines emanate from the north pole and after forming a closed path
terminate on south pole. Each magnetic dipole has some magnetic moment (M). The
magnitude of M is

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 For the direction of Many one of the following methods can be
used
(i)
As in case of an electric dipole, the dipole moment p has a direction from negative charge
to positive charge. In the similar manner, direction of M is from south to north pole.

The south and north poles can be identified by the sense of current.

The side from where the current seems to be clockwise becomes south pole and the
opposite side from where it seems anti-clockwise becomes north pole.

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In this case, current appears to be clockwise from outside
the paper, so this side becomes the south pole.

From the back of the paper it seems anti-clockwise.

Hence, this side becomes the north pole. As the magnetic

moment is from south to north pole.

It is directed perpendicular to paper inwards. Further

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Here, opposite is the case. South pole is into the paper and
north pole is outside the paper.

Therefore, magnetic moment is perpendicular to paper in

outward direction. The magnitude of M is

In this case, south pole is on the right side of the

loop and north pole on the left side.

Hence, M is directed from right to left. The

magnitude of magnetic moment is

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(ii)
Vector M is along the normal to the plane of the loop. The orientation (up or down along
the normal) is given by the right hand rule.

Wrap your fingers of the right hand around the perimeter of the loop in the direction of
current as shown in figure.

Then, extend your thumb so that it is perpendicular to the plane of the loop. The thumb
points in the direction of M

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In addition to the method discussed above for finding M here are two more methods for
calculating M

Method 1
This method is useful for calculating M for a rectangular or
square loop.
The magnetic moment (M) of the rectangular loop shown in
figure is

M = i (AB × BC) = i (BC × CD) = i (CD × DA) = i (DA ×

AB)
Here, the cross product of any two consecutive sides (taken in order) gives the area as well
as the correct direction of M also.
If coordinates of vertices are known. Then, vector of any side can be written in terms of
Coordinates

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Method 2
Sometimes, a current carrying loop does not lie in a single plane.

But by assuming two equal and opposite currents in one branch (which obviously makes no
change in the given circuit) two (or more) closed loops are completed in different planes.

Now, the net magnetic moment of the given loop is the vector sum of individual loops.

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In Fig. (a), six sides of a cube of side l carry a current i in the directions shown.

By assuming two equal and opposite currents in wire AD, two loops in two different
planes (xy and yz) are completed.

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Question 1

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Question 2

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Magnetic Dipole in Uniform Magnetic Field
Let us consider a rectangular (a × b) current carrying loop OACDO placed in xy-plane.
A uniform magnetic field

exists in space.

We are interested in finding the net force and torque in the loop.
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All these forces are acting at the center of the wires. For example, FOA will act at the
center of OA.

When the forces are in equilibrium, net torque about any point remains the same.
Let us find the torque about O

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E, F,G and H are the mid-points of OA, AC, CD and DO, respectively.

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 Note that although this formula has been derived for a rectangular loop, it comes out to be
true for any shape of loop.

The following points are worth noting regarding the torque acting on the loop in uniform
magnetic field.

(i) Magnitude of τ is MB sin θ or NiAB sin θ. Here, θ is the angle between M and B.
Torque is zero when θ = 0° or 180° and it is maximum at θ = 90°.

(ii) If the loop is free to rotate in a magnetic field, the axis of rotation becomes an axis
parallel to τ passing through the center of mass of the loop.

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The above equation for the torque is very similar to that of an electric dipole in an electric
field. The similarity between electric and magnetic dipoles extends even further as
illustrated in the table below

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Question 1

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