Loads of eleclrical appliances use magnelic fields generaled bg eleclric currenls.

Magnelic fields can be represenled bg {ield diagrams.

Ihe arrows on the field lines alwaus point FROM THE NORTH POLE of the magnet TO THE SOUTH POLE.

There is a rnagnelic {ield around a

slraighl, currenl-carrging wire.
The field is made uD of concenlric
circles with the wire in lhe cenlre.

A Rectangular Coil Reinforces the lvlagnetic Field

l) lf gou bend the current-carrging wire round
into a ggi!, the rnagnetic {ielJ looks like this.
-@\
2)Thecircularmagnelicfieldsaroundlhesidesofthe>
loop reinforce each olher at lhe cenlre.
3) lf fhe coil has lols of lurns, lhe rnagnelic fields from all Magnelic field
the individual loops reinforce each oiher even more.

r) The magnelic {ield inside a currenl-carrging solenoid (a coil o{

wirel is strono and uniforrn.
2) Oulside lhe coil, the field is jusl like lhe one round a bar magnel.
3) This means thal lhe ends of a solenoid acl like lhe norlh pole
and soulh pole of a bar rnagnel.
4l Prellq obviouslu, if lhe direclion of the current is reversed, lhe
N and S poles will swap ends.
5) lf gou imagine looking direcllg inlo one end of a solenoid, the
direclion of currenl flow lells gou whether il's the N or S Pole
gou're looking af, as shown bg lhe lwo diagrams opposile.
6) You can inuease the slrenglh of the magnelic field around
a solenoid bg adding a magnelicallg "sofl" iron core through
lhe middle of the coil. ll's then called an ELECTROMAONEI.
A magnelicallu sofl malerial rnagnelises and dernagneiises verg easilg. So, as soon as gou lurn off
lhe currenl through ihe solenoid, lhe magnetic field disaPpears lhe iron doesn'l stag magneiised.
-

...and il's alwags mg RIGHT thurnb. Gol lhat? Nol mg lefl, bul mg RIGHT thurnb. Don'l gel lhem
mixed up. You'll use gour left hand on lhe next page, lhough, so il shouldn'i feel ioo lefl out... (punintended)

Section Seren Generathg Electricity

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 E"th *" pr"t*t us from a lol of naslies frorn space - e.g. cosrnic rags' Hurrah'

a region where magnelic

- =:.\\,\ (--
ii,fii Ih. E*th is surrounded bg a magnetic field - 4
ilt materials (like iron and sleel) experience a torce'
/'tr
Basicallg, lhis means lhe Earth acts like a big bar maonel' It \
\
Like all malneis, ii has nor'th and soulh Poles. \l I
A
But... (ooncenlrale now) lhe Earlh's soulh magnelic pole is acluallg at lhe A

T-ffi"ff;ij-.- ::tl 3^1i#m*t i^"*iffi.'''* -?reO'

North Pole. This makes sense if gou think aboul it... if gou have
a

ffi, ."ffi /\t.--

a soulh magnelic Pole (remember, opposiles aitract)'
ior"ri*
,-iio-ilra
3) you can use a cornpass to tell the direclion of the magnetic
field. The needle points #k'
in the direclion of the field.
i,4) Ihe Earih doesn,l actuallg have a oianl bar maenel buried
inside it. tls core conlains a lol o{ mollen
.-".."a don't undersland this fullg, but theg
lffini.h move in oonr""lionGni*. Scienlisls
rt',* 16rr elggti" wilhirtrti.l1qgid cot" creale the maonelic {ield (and vice versa)'
"urr"nl*

amounls
^Ijl) Ihe surface of lhe sun 'o , *rg unpleasant place - the Sun's conslanllg releasing enormous
consisl of charoed pariicles'
,;'
,i, of energg and cosmic rags. cosrnic raus are heavilg !@g, and mosllg
:1 rhoughl[ere's gamma rags and X-rags in lhere loo'
2l Ihe Earlh,s magnelic field does a good job of shielding
us from a lot of the charged parlicles from the
sun bg deflecii-ng lhem awag. Bui when otrrg@i"les in cosmig-rags
do hit lhe Earlh's almosphere
see p35'
theg cieale g"mr, ,"g*, {oiming part of lhe Earlh's background radialion -
i.

occur on lhe of the Sun'

.i;,3) From lime lo lime, rnassire explosions called solar {lares also -surface
Solat fl"G rebase vast amounls of energg, some of il as
gamma rags and X-rags.
solar flares also $ve off massive clouds of charged Pa*icle.s.
Sorne reach lhe g"*h ,n6*d*e dislurbancesin lhe Earlh's
magnetic {ield'
on for all sorls of
Solar flares can also damage arlificial satellites, which we relg
gp,g!!g,
rting. for example... ,od"rn communicalions, wealher forecasling,
OENI\'VAN RAVENSWAAY/
SCIEIICE PHOTO LIERARY
:.:,:,,
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navioalion sgslems (such as GPS)"'
,+6) Ihe problem is thal eleclrons and !@ in solar flares can cause suroes of currenl
in a salellile's

t: eleclrica! circuilrg. ,igttf need lo be shul down lo prevenl damage during flares'
S;;i;mt"*
II solar flares atso inleracl with lhe Earlh's rnagnelic field, and can
cause powelglggg in electricilg
,"rn* of electromagnelic induction see p2l)'
: ;.;l Jidribution sgslerns here on Earth (bg -
.i:

@sincosmicraUsaredeflecledbglheEarlh,smagnelic{ieldand
of lheir energg is transfemed.lo
*pirri ao*inear lhe rnagnelic.poles.- H"t", some
plitr.l.- in the r"*ntfffi*, causing lhem fo emit light the pelerighls'
-
in the skg. Theg're
2) Ihe polar lights are shifting 'curlains' of lighr !h{ app.eT :."1*11:
aurora borealis (northern fights) al the ttoith pote and lhe aurora auslralis at lhe Soulh
;il:,il;a'"},jffidramalicdu,ing*o|",flares,whenrnorecosmicragsarrivealtheEarlh.

used lo
I*g;;"'th" *".d foi'norlhern lights' is 'herring flash' - people
ln an old Scandinavia"
nol an entirelg
,;{il;i;'- ;asr inro the skg bg large shoals of herring.soThafs
think ihe r.rghrs were r-.. :r :^ tL^ ^.
il;i'ij#';"*-*r *t'* gou'd call the acceptei eiplaiatiqn now'd'g* - don'l rrg il l" th" llT
Section Three Radioactivity and Space
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