Section b

1. Starting from macroscopic form of Ohms law, derive its microscopic form.

Ans)

When electric current in a material is proportional to the voltage across it, the material is said to be "ohmic", or to
obey Ohm's law. A microscopic view suggests that this proportionality comes from the fact that an applied electric
field superimposes a small drift velocity on the free electrons in a metal. For ordinary currents, this drift velocity is
on the order of millimeters per second in contrast to the speeds of the electrons themselves which are on the
order of a million meters per second. Even the electron speeds are themselves small compared to the speed of
transmission of an electrical signal down a wire, which is on the order of the speed of light, 300 million meters per
second.

The current density (electric current per unit area, J=I/A) can be expressed in terms of the free electron density
as

The number of atoms per unit volume (and the number free electrons for atoms like copper that have one free
electron per atom) is

From the standard form of Ohm's law and resistance in terms of resistivity:

The next step is to relate the drift velocity to the electron speed, which can be approximated by the Fermi speed:

Table

The drift speed can be expressed in terms of the accelerating electric field E, the electron mass, and the
characteristic time between collisions.

The conductivity of the material can be expressed in terms of the Fermi speed and the mean free path of an
electron in the metal.
2q) Obtain an expression for decay of current in LR circuit.

Ans) (A) Growth of current

 Suppose in the beginning we close the switch in the up position as shown in below in the figure

 Switch is now closed and battery E,inductance L and resistance R are now connected in series
 Because of self induced emf current will not immediately reach its steady value but grows at a rate
depending on inductance and resistance of the c circuit
 Let at any instant I be the c current in the circuit increasing from 0 to a maximum value at a rate of
increase dI/dt
 Now the potential difference across the inductor is
Vop=LdI/dt
and across resistor is
Vpq=IR
Since
V=Vop+Vpq
so we have,

Thus rate of increase of current would be,

 In the beginning at t=0 when circuit is first closed current begins to grow at a rate,

from the above relation we conclude that greater would be the inductance of the inductor, more slowly
the current starts to increase.
 When the current reaches its steady state value I ,the rate of increase of current becomes zero then
from equation (7) we have,
0=(V-IR)/L
or,
I=V/R
From this we conclude that final steady state current in the circuit does not depend on self inductance
rather it is same as it would be if only resistance is connected to the source
 Now we will obtain the relation of current as a function of time Again consider equation (6) and
rearrange it so that
 let V/R=Imax ,the maximum current in the circuit .so we have

 Integrating equation (8) on both sides we have

where C is a constant and is evaluated by the value for current at t=0 which is i=0
so,
C=-ln(V/R)=-ln Imax
putting this value of C in equation (9) we get,

This equation shows the exponential increase of current in the circuit with the passage of time

 If we put t=τL=L/R is equation 10 then,

Hence, the time in which the current in the circuit increases from zero to 63% of the maximum value of
Imax is called the constant or the decay constant of the circuit.
 For LR circuit, decay constant is,
τL=L/R                                 ---(11)
 Again from equation (8),

This suggests that rate of change current per sec depends on time constant.
 Higher is the value of decay constant ,lower will be the rate of change of current and vice versa.

(B) Decay of current

 When the switch S is thrown down to b as shown below in the figure ,the L-R circuit is again closed and
battery is cut off
 In this condition the current in the circuit begins to decay
 Again from equation (8) since V=0 this time, so the equation for decay is

Integrating on both sides

In this case initially at time t=0 current I=Imax so

C1=ln I0
Putting this value of C1 in equation (12)

Hence current decreases exponentially with time in the circuit in accordance with the above equation
after the battery are cutoff from the circuit.
 Figure below shows the graph between current and time
  If in equation (13)
t=τL=L/R
then
I=Imaxe-1=.37Imax
hence the time in which the current decrease from the maximum value to 37% of the maximum value
Imax is called the time constant of the circuit
 From equation (13) it is clear that when R is large ,current in the L-R circuit will decrease rapidly and
there is a chance of production of spark
 To avoid this situation L is kept large enough to make L/R large so that current can decrease slowly
 For large time constant the decay is slow and for small time constant the decay is fast

4q) What are magnetic materials? Classify magnetic materials. Give one example of each class

ANS)The origin of magnetism lies in the orbital and spin motions of electrons and how the electrons interact with
one another. The best way to introduce the different types of magnetism is to describe how materials respond to
magnetic fields. This may be surprising to some, but all matter is magnetic. It's just that some materials are much
more magnetic than others. The main distinction is that in some materials there is no collective interaction of
atomic magnetic moments, whereas in other materials there is a very strong interaction between atomic
moments.

The magnetic behavior of materials can be classified into the following five major groups:

  Magnetic Properties of some common minerals

Materials in the first two groups are those that exhibit no collective magnetic interactions and are not
magnetically ordered. Materials in the last three groups exhibit long-range magnetic order below a certain critical
temperature. Ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials are usually what we consider as being magnetic (ie.,
behaving like iron). The remaining three are so weakly magnetic that they are usually thought of as
"nonmagnetic".

1. Diamagnetism

Diamagnetism is a fundamental
property of all matter, although it is
usually very weak. It is due to the non-
cooperative behavior of orbiting
electrons when exposed to an applied
magnetic field. Diamagnetic
substances are composed of atoms
which have no net magnetic moments
(ie., all the orbital shells are filled and
there are no unpaired electrons).
However, when exposed to a field, a
negative magnetization is produced and thus the susceptibility is negative. If we plot M vs H, we see:

Note that when the field is zero the magnetization is zero. The other characteristic behavior of diamagnetic
materials is that the susceptibility is temperature independent. Some well known diamagnetic substances, in
units of 10-8 m3/kg, include:

  quartz (SiO2)   -0.62

  Calcite (CaCO3)  -0.48
  water    -0.90

TOP

2. Paramagnetism

This class of materials, some of the atoms or ions in the material have a net magnetic moment due to unpaired
electrons in partially filled orbitals. One of the most important atoms with unpaired electrons is iron. However, the
individual magnetic moments do not interact magnetically, and like diamagnetism, the magnetization is zero
when the field is removed. In the presence of a field, there is now a partial alignment of the atomic magnetic
moments in the direction of the field, resulting in a net positive magnetization and positive susceptibility.

In addition, the efficiency of the field in aligning the moments is opposed by the randomizing effects of
temperature. This results in a temperature dependent susceptibility, known as the Curie Law.

At normal temperatures and in moderate fields, the paramagnetic susceptibility is small (but larger than the
diamagnetic contribution). Unless the temperature is very low (<<100 K) or the field is very high paramagnetic
susceptibility is independent of the applied field. Under these conditions, paramagnetic susceptibility is
proportional to the total iron content. Many iron bearing minerals are paramagnetic at room temperature. Some
examples, in units of 10-8 m3/kg, include:

  Montmorillonite (clay)   13

  Nontronite (Fe-rich clay)   65

  Biotite (silicate)    79

  Siderite(carbonate)    100

  Pyrite (sulfide)    30

The paramagnetism of the matrix minerals in natural samples can be significant if the concentration of magnetite
is very small. In this case, a paramagnetic correction may be needed.

1. Diamagnetism

Diamagnetism is a fundamental property of all matter, although it is usually very weak. It is due to the non-
cooperative behavior of orbiting electrons when exposed to an applied magnetic field. Diamagnetic substances
are composed of atoms which have no net magnetic moments (ie., all the orbital shells are filled and there are no
unpaired electrons). However, when exposed to a field, a negative magnetization is produced and thus the
susceptibility is negative. If we plot M vs H, we see:

Note that when the field is zero the magnetization is zero. The other characteristic behavior of diamagnetic
materials is that the susceptibility is temperature independent. Some well known diamagnetic substances, in
units of 10-8 m3/kg, include:

  quartz (SiO2)   -0.62

  Calcite (CaCO3)  -0.48

  water    -0.90

TOP

2. Paramagnetism

This class of materials, some of the atoms or ions in the material have a net magnetic moment due to unpaired
electrons in partially filled orbitals. One of the most important atoms with unpaired electrons is iron. However, the
individual magnetic moments do not interact magnetically, and like diamagnetism, the magnetization is zero
when the field is removed. In the presence of a field, there is now a partial alignment of the atomic magnetic
moments in the direction of the field, resulting in a net positive magnetization and positive susceptibility.

In addition, the efficiency of the field in aligning the moments is opposed by the randomizing effects of
temperature. This results in a temperature dependent susceptibility, known as the Curie Law.

At normal temperatures and in moderate fields, the paramagnetic susceptibility is small (but larger than the
diamagnetic contribution). Unless the temperature is very low (<<100 K) or the field is very high paramagnetic
susceptibility is independent of the applied field. Under these conditions, paramagnetic susceptibility is
proportional to the total iron content. Many iron bearing minerals are paramagnetic at room temperature. Some
examples, in units of 10-8 m3/kg, include:

  Montmorillonite (clay)   13

  Nontronite (Fe-rich clay)   65

  Biotite (silicate)    79

  Siderite(carbonate)    100

  Pyrite (sulfide)    30
The paramagnetism of the matrix minerals in natural samples can be significant if the concentration of magnetite
is very small. In this case, a paramagnetic correction may be needed.

7. Insulation resistance is affected by change in temperature. Comment.

Ans) Although the resistance of a conductor changes with the size of the conductor (e.g. thicker wires have less
resistance to current flow than thinner wires), the resistance of a conductor also changes with changing
temperature. This may be expected to happen because, as temperature changes, the dimensions of the
conductor will change as it expands or contracts.

However, materials that are classed as CONDUCTORS tend to INCREASE their resistance with an increase in
temperature. INSULATORS however are liable to DECREASE their resistance with an increase in temperature.
Materials used for practical insulators (glass, plastic etc.) only exhibit a marked drop in their resistance at very
high temperatures. They remain good insulators over all temperatures they are likely to encounter in use.

These changes in resistance cannot therefore be explained by a change in dimensions due to thermal expansion
or contraction. In fact for a given size of conductor the change in resistance is due mainly to a change in the
resistivity of the material, and is caused by the changing activity of the atoms that make up the material.

Temperature and Atomic Structure

The reasons for these changes in resistivity can be explained by considering the flow of current through the
material. The flow of current is actually the movement of electrons from one atom to another under the influence
of an electric field. Electrons are very small negatively charged particles and will be repelled by a negative
electric charge and attracted by a positive electric charge. Therefore if an electric potential is applied across a
conductor (positive at one end, negative at the other) electrons will "migrate" from atom to atom towards the
positive terminal.

Only some electrons are free to migrate however. Others within each atom are held so tightly to their particular
atom that even an electric field will not dislodge them. The current flowing in the material is therefore due to the
movement of "free electrons" and the number of free electrons within any material compared with those tightly
bound to their atoms is what governs whether a material is a good conductor (many free electrons) or a good
insulator (hardly any free electrons).

The effect of heat on the atomic structure of a material is to make the atoms vibrate, and the higher the
temperature the more violently the atoms vibrate.

In a conductor, which already has a large number of free electrons flowing through it, the vibration of the atoms
causes many collisions between the free electrons and the captive electrons. Each collision uses up some
energy from the free electron and is the basic cause of resistance. The more the atoms jostle around in the
material, the more collisions are caused and hence the greater the resistance to current flow.

In an insulator however, there is a slightly different situation. There are so few free electrons that hardly any
current can flow. Almost all the electrons are tightly bound within their particular atom. Heating an insulating
material vibrates the atoms, and if heated sufficiently, the atoms vibrate violently enough to actually shake some
of their captive electrons free, creating free electrons to become carriers of current. Therefore at high
temperatures the resistance of an insulator can fall, and in some insulating materials, quite dramatically.

In a material where the resistance INCREASES with an increase in temperature, the material is said to have a
POSITIVE TEMPERATURE COEFFICIENT.

When resistance FALLS with an increase in temperature, the material is said to have a NEGATIVE
TEMPERATURE COEFFICIENT.
In general, conductors have a POSITIVE temperature coefficient, whilst (at high temperatures) insulators have a
NEGATIVE temperature coefficient. Different materials within either group have different temperature
coefficients. Materials chosen for the construction of the resistors used in electronic circuits are carefully selected
conductors that have a very low positive temperatur coefficient. In use, resistors made from such materials will
have only very slight increases in resistivity, and therefore their resistance. Using such materials for the
manufacture of resistors creates components whose value changes only slightly over a given range of
temperature.

Materials chosen as insulators will have a very low NEGATIVE TEMPERATURE COEFFICIENT over their
working range of temperature.

8. Draw and explain circuit diagram for charge of condenser through the resistance.

Ans) A Capacitor is a passive device that stores energy in its Electric Field and returns energy to the circuit
whenever required. A Capacitor consists of two Conducting Plates separated by an Insulating Material or
Dielectric. Figure 1 and Figure 2 are the basic structure and the schematic symbol of the Capacitor respectively.

Figure 1: Basic structure of the Capacitor

Figure 2: Schematic symbol of the Capacitor

When a Capacitor is connected to a circuit with Direct Current (DC) source, two processes, which are called
"charging" and "discharging" the Capacitor, will happen in specific conditions.

In Figure 3, the Capacitor is connected to the DC Power Supply and Current flows through the circuit. Both
Plates get the equal and opposite charges and an increasing Potential Difference, vc, is created while the
Capacitor is charging. Once the Voltage at the terminals of the Capacitor, vc, is equal to the Power Supply
Voltage, vc = V, the Capacitor is fully charged and the Current stops flowing through the circuit, the Charging
Phase is over.

Figure 3: The Capacitor is Charging

A Capacitor is equivalent to an Open-Circuit to Direct Current, R = ∞, because once the Charging Phase has
finished, no more Current flows through it. The Voltage vc on a Capacitor cannot change abruptly.

When the Capacitor disconnected from the Power Supply, the Capacitor is discharging through the Resistor RD
and the Voltage between the Plates drops down gradually to zero, vc = 0, Figure 4.

Figure 4: The Capacitor is Discharging

In Figures 3 and 4, the Resistances of RC and RD affect the charging rate and the discharging rate of the
Capacitor respectively.

The product of Resistance R and Capacitance C is called the Time Constant τ, which characterizes the rate of
charging and discharging of a Capacitor, Figure 5.
Figure 5: The Voltage vc and the Current iC during the Charging Phase and Discharging Phase

The smaller the Resistance or the Capacitance, the smaller the Time Constant, the faster the charging and the
discharging rate of the Capacitor, and vice versa.

Capacitors are found in almost all electronic circuits. They can be used as a fast battery. For example, a
Capacitor is a storehouse of energy in photoflash unit that releases the energy quickly during short period of the
flash.

Section c

5. Obtain the relation between turns ratio with current and voltage ratio.

Ans) TURNS AND VOLTAGE RATIOS

The total voltage induced into the secondary winding of a transformer is determined mainly by the RATIO of the
number of turns in the primary to the number of turns in the secondary, and by the amount of voltage applied to
the primary. Refer to figure (10). Part (A) of the figure shows a transformer whose primary consists of ten turns of
wire and whose secondary consists of a single turn of wire. You know that as lines of flux generated by the
primary expand and collapse, they cut BOTH the ten turns of the primary and the single turn of the secondary.
Since the length of the wire in the secondary is approximately the same as the length of the wire in each turn in
the primary,

EMF INDUCED INTO THE SECONDARY WILL BE THE

SAME AS THE EMF INDUCED INTO EACH TURN IN THE PRIMARY. This means that if the voltage applied to
the primary winding is 10 volts, the counter emf in the primary is almost 10 volts. Thus, each turn in the primary
will have an induced counter emf of approximately one-tenth of the total applied voltage, or one volt. Since the
same flux lines cut the turns in both the secondary and the primary, each turn will have an emf of one volt
induced into it. The transformer in part (A) of figure 5-10 has only one turn in the secondary, thus, the emf across
the secondary is one volt.

The transformer represented in part (B) of figure (10)

has a ten-turn primary and a two-turn secondary. Since the flux induces one volt per turn, the total voltage across
the secondary is two volts. Notice that the volts per turn are the same for both primary and secondary windings.
Since the counter emf in the primary is equal (or almost) to the applied voltage, a proportion may be set up to
express the value of the voltage induced in terms of the voltage applied to the primary and the number of turns in
each winding. This proportion also shows the relationship between the number of turns in each winding and the
voltage across each winding. This proportion is expressed by the equation:

Notice the equation shows that the ratio of secondary voltage to primary voltage is equal to the ratio of secondary
turns to primary turns.

 If any three of the quantities in the above formulas are known, the fourth quantity can be calculated. Example. A
transformer has 200 turns in the primary, 50 turns in the secondary, and 120 volts applied to the primary (Ep).
What is the voltage across the secondary (E s)?

 Example. There are 400 turns of wire in an iron-core coil. If this coil is to be used as the primary of a
transformer, how many turns must be wound on the coil to form the secondary winding of the transformer to have
a secondary voltage of one volt if the primary voltage is five volts?
 

Note: The ratio of the voltage (5:1) is equal to the turns ratio (400:80). Sometimes, instead of specific values, you
are given a turns or voltage ratio. In this case, you may assume any value for one of the voltages (or turns) and
compute the other value from the ratio. For example, if a turn ratio is given as 6:1, you can assume a number of
turns for the primary and compute the secondary number of turns (60:10, 36:6, 30:5, etc.).

The transformer in each of the above problems has fewer turns in the secondary than in the primary. As a result,
there is less voltage across the secondary than across the primary. A transformer in which the voltage across the
secondary is less than the voltage across the primary is called a STEP-DOWN transformer.

The ratio of a four-to-one step-down transformer is written as 4:1. A transformer that has fewer turns in the
primary than in the secondary will produce a greater voltage across the secondary than the voltage applied to the
primary. A transformer in which the voltage across the secondary is greater than the voltage applied to the
primary is called a STEP-UP transformer. The ratio of a one-to-four step-up transformer should be written as 1:4.
Notice in the two ratios that the value of the primary winding is always stated first.

EFFECT OF ALOAD

When a load device is connected across the secondary winding of a transformer, current flows through the
secondary and the load. The magnetic field produced by the current in the secondary interacts with the magnetic
field produced by the current in the primary. This interaction results from the mutual inductance between the
primary and secondary windings.

MUTUAL FLUX
The total flux in the core of the transformer is common to both the primary and secondary windings. It is also the
means by which energy is transferred from the primary winding to the secondary winding. Since this flux links
both windings, it is called MUTUAL FLUX. The inductance which produces this flux is also common to both
windings and is called mutual inductance.

Figure (11) shows the flux produced by the currents in the primary and secondary windings of a transformer
when source current is flowing in the primary winding.

Figure (11). - Simple transformer indicating

primary-and secondary-winding flux relationship.

When a load resistance is connected to the secondary winding, the voltage induced into the secondary winding
causes current to flow in the secondary winding. This current produces a flux field about the secondary (shown
as broken lines) which is in opposition to the flux field about the primary (Lenz's law). Thus, the flux about the
secondary cancels some of the flux about the primary. With less flux surrounding the primary, the counter emf is
reduced and more current is drawn from the source. The additional current in the primary generates more lines of
flux, nearly reestablishing the original number of total flux lines.

TURNS AND CURRENT RATIOS

The number of flux lines developed in a core is proportional to the magnetizing force

(IN AMPERE-TURNS) of the primary and secondary windings.

The ampere-turn (I X N) is a measure of magneto motive force; it is defined as the magnetomotive force
developed by one ampere of current flowing in a coil of one turn. The flux which exists in the core of a
transformer surrounds both the primary and secondary windings. Since the flux is the same for both windings,
the ampere-turns in both the primary and secondary windings must be the same.

Therefore:

By dividing both sides of the equation by IpN s, you obtain:

Notice the equations show the current ratio to be the inverse of the turns ratio and the voltage ratio. This means,
a transformer having less turns in the secondary than in the primary would step down the voltage, but would step
up the current. Example: A transformer has a 6:1 voltage ratio. Find the current in the secondary if the current in
the primary is 200 milliamperes.
 The above example points out that although the voltage across the secondary is one-sixth the voltage across
the primary, the current in the secondary is six times the current in the primary. The above equations can be
looked at from another point of view. The turns ratio indicates the amount by which the transformer increases or
decreases the voltage applied to the primary. For example, if the secondary of a transformer has two times as
many turns as the primary, the voltage induced into the secondary will be two times the voltage across the
primary. If the secondary has one-half as many turns as the primary, the voltage across the secondary will be
one-half the voltage across the primary. However, the turns ratio and the current ratio of a transformer have an
inverse relationship. Thus, a 1:2 step-up transformer will have one-half the current in the secondary as in the
primary. A 2:1 step-down transformer will have twice the current in the secondary as in the primary.
Example: A transformer with a turns ratio of 1:12 has 3 amperes of current in the secondary. What is the value of
current in the primary?

1q) State and explain the Joule’s law of heating due to an electric current. Hence explain the term

watt and kilowatt-hour.

Ans) When current flows through an electric circuit, the collision between the electrons and atoms of wire causes
heat to be generated. How much heat is generated during current flowing through a wire and on what conditions
and parameters do the heat generation depend? James Prescott Joule an English physicist, coined a formula
which explains this phenomenon accurately. This is known as Joule’s law. The heat which is produced due to the
flow of current within an electric wire, is expressed in unit of Joules. Now the mathematical representation and
explanation of Joule’s law is given in the following manner.

1. The amount of heat produced in a current conducting wire, is proportional to the square of the amount
of current that is flowing through the wire, when the electrical resistance of the wire and the time of

current flowing are constant.

2. The amount of heat produced is proportional to the electrical resistance of the wire when the current in
the wire and the time of current flowing are constant.

3. The heat generated due to the flow of current is proportional to the time of current flowing, when the
electrical resistance and the amount of current is constant.

When these three conditions are merged, the resulting formula is like this –

Here, ‘H’ is the heat generated in Joules, ‘i’ is the current flowing through the conducting wire in ampere and ‘t’ is
the time in seconds. There are four variables in the equation. When any three of these are known the other one
can be calculated. Here, ‘J’ is a constant, known as Joule’s mechanical equivalent of heat. Mechanical equivalent
of heat may be defined as the number of work units which, when completely converted into heat, furnishes one
unit of heat. Obviously, the value of J will depend on the choice of units of work and heat. It has been found that
J = 4.2 joules/cal (1 joule = 107 ergs) = 1400 ft. lbs./CHU = 778 ft. lbs/B Th U. It should be noted that the above
values are not very accurate but are good enough for general work.

Now according to Joule’s law I2Rt = work done in joules electrically when I ampere of current are maintained
through a resistor of R ohms for t seconds.
By eliminating I and R in turn in the above expression with the help of Ohm’s law, we get alternative forms as.
 

Watts (W)

A watt (W) is a unit of measurement of power. Watts therefore refer to the power of your device.

Examples:

 an incandescent lamp has a power of 60 W

 your microwave oven has a maximum power of 900 W

The watt, as its many variations – kilowatt, megawatt, etc. – measures the electrical power of a device, whether it
is a motor, a machine or the heating capacity of a boiler or wood stove. Today, this information appears on the
technical descriptions for all electrical appliances.

The more powerful a device is, the higher the number of watts.

Kilowatt hours (kWh)

A kilowatt hour (kWh) is a unit of measurement of energy. A kilowatt hour therefore refers to the consumption of
your device.

1 kilowatt hour (kWh) is the energy consumed by a 1,000-watt or 1-kilowatt electrical appliance operating for 1
hour.

Examples:

 a 60 W lamp that burns for one hour will have consumed 60 Wh or 0.06 kWh
 a 900 W microwave oven that runs for 5 minutes will have consumed 75Wh or 0.075 kWh

4Q. What are ferromagnetic materials? Discuss the spontaneous magnetization of ferromagnetic

materials with domain.

Ans) The ferromagnetic materials are those substances which exhibit strong magnetism in the same direction of
the field, when a magnetic field is applied to it. First, we have to know what a domain is. It is actually a tiny area
in ferromagnetic materials with a specific overall spin orientation due to quantum mechanical effect. This effect is
really exchange interaction. That is; when we consider some unpaired electrons, they will interact with each other
between two atoms and they line up themselves in a tiny region with the direction of magnetic field (Figure 1).
This mechanism of the ferromagnetic material is ferromagnetism. It can be defined as some materials (cobalt,
gadolinium, iron etc) will become permanent magnet with the use of magnetic field.
Properties of Ferromagnetic Materials

 When a rod of this material is placed in a magnetic field, it rapidly aligns itself in the track of the field.
 It is strongly attracted by the magnet.
 The ferromagnetism mechanism is not present in liquids and gases.
 The intensity of magnetization (M), magnetic susceptibility (χm), relative permeability (µr), and magnetic
flux density (B) of this material will be always prominent and positive.

µ0 → Magnetic permittivity of free space.

H → Applied peripheral magnetic field strength.

the spontaneous magnetization Msp and the definition of the Curie temperature Tc are of fundamental importance
in characterizing ferromagnets. However, the theoretical prediction and practical measurement of these
quantities involves two interrelated questions: what theory should be used to predict the T-dependence of the
spontaneous magnetization (SM) and hence Tc, and how should the true value of Tc be derived from those
measurements? Mean-field calculations1–6 of Msp have been based on the classical Weiss-Brillouin equation

M/Ms= BJ[μ0μB(H+αM)/(kT)],

(1)

where BJ(x) is the Brillouin function for spin J:

BJ(x)=cJ coth(cJx)−dJ coth(dJx),

(2)

with cJ=(2J+1)/(2J) and dJ=1/(2J). Other quantities in Eq. (1) are M and Ms, the magnetization and its saturated
value, H the applied field, α the exchange (or molecular-field) parameter, μ0 the vacuum permeability, k the
Boltzmann constant, and μB the Bohr magneton. Setting H to zero, Eq. (1) has been used to calculate Msp(T), the
spontaneous magnetization (SM). In his original calculations,7,8 Weiss used the Langevin function

ℒ(x)=B∞(x)= coth(x)−1/x,

(3)

so that the SM is given by

Msp/Ms=ℒ [μ0μBαMsp/(kT)].

(4)

Later work4,9–11 used J = ½, so that the SM equation is

Msp/Ms= tanh[μ0μBαMsp/(kT)].

(5)

It is commonly assumed that SM calculations that predict a clearly defined and abrupt Tc, are in some sense
“correct.” According to this view, measured Msp(T) curves that display a “tail” or “foot” seemingly extending
beyond Tc are “incorrect,” so that Tc should be found by extrapolation. Various methods9,12–15 have been used to
find the point where a fitted theoretical curve appears to cut the T-axis. In practice such extrapolations are
imprecise because the tail occurs in nearly all cases.12–16 For this reason, a magnetocaloric measurement
procedure that minimizes the tail phenomenon has been widely advocated,12–14,17,18 even though the physics
involved is not strictly magnetic. A survey of the nature of the tail problem has been given in the seminal works of
Belov.16,19

Here, we show that when other relevant mechanisms, in particular ferromagnetic hysteresis, are included in a
positive-feedback theory,20,21 not only are the tails explained but there is also an overall accuracy improvement
over the whole temperature range. In the present positive-feedback mean-field model, the “true” Curie
temperature Tc′ is unequivocally defined as the temperature at which hysteresis, the primary feature of a
ferromagnet, vanishes as T is increased from below. Hysteresis is caused by a strong atomic-scale (quantum)
positive-feedback (PFB) process that, in common with many other physical systems,22 leads to an S-shaped loop
exhibiting bistability, a defined width (coercivity), as well as regions of reversibility and irreversibility, all
characteristic of ferromagnets. For T > Tc′ the PFB ceases, the material becomes paramagnetic, and the loop
area goes to zero. Normally, this intrinsic hysteresis loop does not by itself reproduce typical measured SM data,
but when other important field components are included, physically realistic loops are indeed obtained, and they
predict Msp(T) values that agree rather well with measured data, including tails. Interestingly, these additional
components do not affect the PFB definition of Tc′, but they do affect the calculation of the Msp(T) curve and its
accuracy.

II. POSITIVE-FEEDBACK MODEL OF SPONTANEOUS MAGNETIZATION

Here, we replace Eq. (1) by the following PFB modification of the Weiss-Brillouin expression:

M/Ms= BJ[β μ0μB(Hq+αM)/(kT)].

(6)

The difference is that Eq. (6) includes the domain-width parameter β, which is the key to predicting accurate
hysteresis loops. Parameter β is defined23 as the mean number of Bohr magnetons  μB extending in a quasi-
linear chain across a domain in the direction of its internal magnetization. The typically enormous value of β, e.g.,
∼ 6 × 108 for Fe,23 accounts in part for the strong intrinsic PFB, and hence hysteresis, typical of ferromagnetic
materials. We identify Hq as the quantum field component associated with the intrinsic loop. For simplicity, we
use a reduced form of Eq. (6):

m=BJ[(hq+m)/(tψJ)],

(7)

where m = M/Ms, hq = Hq/(αMs), t = T/ Tc′, and Tc′ is the J- and β-dependent paramagnetic Curie temperature

  T′c=ψJαβμ0μBMs/k,

(8)

where ψJ=(1+J)/(3J), see Appendix A. Whereas previous calculations3,6,9,11,16,24–27 of the temperature-dependence

of the spontaneous magnetization msp(t) have concentrated on versions of Eq. (1), here we use Eq. (7) and the
definition Eq. (8) to investigate how the inclusion of other processes affects the prediction. To this end, we
replace hq in Eq. (7) by the total applied field

hΣ=hq+ha+hex+hd,

(9)

where the terms on the right side are respectively the hysteretic, anhysteretic, exchange, and demagnetizing field
components, as discussed below. Focusing on the meaning of hq, we temporarily neglect the other fields and
invert Eq. (7), obtaining two possible expressions for hq. One describes the reversible segments of the intrinsic S-
curve; the other its associated irreversible jumps. The combined result is the intrinsic hysteresis loop in Fig. 1.
The upper and lower reversible loop segments (heavy lines), for which (mb0 < m < 1) and (−1 < m < −mb0), are
both given by

hqrev=tψJ B−1J(m) −m,

(10)

where B−1J(⋅) is the inverse Brillouin function (Appendix B), m0 = M0/Ms is the reversal magnetization at loop
closure, and mb0 = Mb0/Ms is the bifurcation magnetization at which the reversible and irreversible segments part
company, see Fig. 1. The ascending and descending jumps (−mb0 < m < m0) and (−m0 < m < mb0) are the origin of
hysteretic irreversibility and are given by

hqirr=δ hc,

(11)

where δ=±1 for the ascender and descender respectively. The temperature- and spin-dependent coercive field hc
is

hc(t,J)=mb0−tψJB−1J(mb0),
Section a

1. Kirchhoff's current law (1st Law) states that current flowing into a node (or a junction) must be
equal to current flowing out of it. This is a consequence of charge conservation. Kirchhoff's
voltage law (2nd Law) states that the sum of all voltages around any closed loop in a circuit
must equal zero
2.

3.
4.A
5. SI unit of self inductance ishenry. The self-inductance of a coil is said to be one henry, if a
rate of change of current of one ampere per second induces an e.m.f. of one voltin it
6.
7.A
8.B
9.B
10.A