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Moving Charges and Magnetism is an important topic from JEE Main / JEE Advanced Exam Point of
view. Every year there are 1-3 questions asked from this topic. This short notes on Moving Charges and
Magnetism will help you in revising the topic before the JEE Main & IIT JEE Advanced Exam. You can
also download Moving Charges and Magnetism notes PDF at end of the post.

Moving Charges and Magnetism

Magnetic field and field lines

Magnetic field- The magnetic field is an area in which a magnet influences another magnetic substance
or an electric field.

Magnetic Field Lines- A magnetic field is associated with the magnetic lines of force created by a
magnet, electric currents, or changing of the electric field. Magnetic field lines indicate the direction in
which magnetism is acting. This can be seen with a simple experiment. If you drop a few shrivels of
iron around a magnet, they align in a particular manner.

The magnetic lines of force have their direction set from the north pole to south pole. The tangent at any
point on field line gives the direction of magnetic intensity at that point. The density of the magnetic
lines indicates the magnitude of the magnetic field.

Fluctuating electric field will result in continuous changing of the magnitude and direction of the
magnetic field.

A magnetic field is represented by two vector quantities.

Magnetic flux density (B)- Magnetic flux density is the number of magnetic field lines passing through
a given area. The more the number of lines, the greater the density and the magnetic force. It is
measured in terms of Tesla.

Magnetic field strength (H)- It is defined as the force experienced by a unit North pole placed in a
magnetic field. It is the complete force due to the magnetic field that is being generated. It is measured
in terms of A/m.

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The relation between B and H is, , where is the permeability of the medium.

Permeability (μ)- Permeability is the extent to which the material can be magnetized. It measure of the
ability of a material to allow the magnetic lines of force to pass through it. The permeability of free

space is

Lorentz Force
If a charged particle moving with velocity v in the presence of both electric and magnetic field. Then the
act force on the charged particle is known as Lorentz force

, where is the force experienced in electric, is

force experienced in the magnetic field.

When θ is 0°, the charged particle is moving parallel to the magnetic field. In this case, the charged
particle doesn’t experience any force and moves without any effect.

When θ is 90°, the charge, the charge will continue to move in a circle.

When θ lies between 0° and 90°, there is still a force acting on the charge, however, it is not enough to
force the charged particle to move in a circular manner, and thus follows a helical movement.

The direction of the magnetic force is determined by right-hand rule.

Motion in a magnetic field

Magnetic field is generated whenever there is a charge moving or an electric current passing. The Biot-
Savart law allows us to establish a relationship between electric current and magnetism.

Biot-savart Law
According to the Biot- savart law, the magnetic field at point P due to a current carrying wire is directly
proportional to the current element dl, current I flowing through the wire, and inversely proportional to
the square of distance.

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Applications of Biot-Savart Law

(1) Magnetic field due to a straight current carrying wire of finite length.

The magnetic field at point P due to the wire is given by

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(2) Magnetic field due to a circular arc

Magnetic field due to a circular arc at the centre of the arc is given by

(3) Magnetic field due to a current carrying coil

The magnetic field at the distance x from the centre of circular current carrying coil

is,

Magnetic field due to a Solenoid

The solenoid is a long cylindrical helix, which is obtained by winding closely a large number of turns of
insulated wire over a tube of cardboard. When electric current is passed through it, a magnetic field is
produced around and within the solenoid.

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The magnetic field at a point A inside the solenoid is given by

Ampere’s circuital law

Ampere's circuital law is the alternative form of Biot-Savart law in magnetostatics. It states that the line
integral of the magnetic field B around any closed circuit is equal μo times the total current I passing
through this closed circuit.

Magnetic field due to a toroid

Toriod is a structure formed by joining solenoid end to end. The magnetic field at a point P at a distance

r from the centre is given by

Magnetic force on a current carrying conductor

If a conductor carrying a current as placed in an external magnetic field. It experienced a mechanical

force. Force on current element Idl, if placed in a magnetic field B is given by

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The total force on current carrying conductor in uniform magnetic field B is,

Force between two infinite parallel current carrying conductor

If two current carrying straight conductors if placed close to each other they will exert the force

(magnetic) on each other. The magnitude of the force is

f the current in the two wires moves in the same direction, the right-hand rule allows to prove why they
attract. Similarly, if the current moves in opposite directions, the wires repel each other.

The torque on a current loop

When a current carrying loop placed in a magnetic field then due to the magnetic forces acting on the
current loop, a torque is produced in the coil.

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The magnitude of torque is,

where B is the magnetic field, N is the number of turns in coil, I is the current passing through the coil,
and A is the area of the loop.

Or , where M is the magnetic moment of the loop.

Magnetic Dipole- A Magnetic dipole is a magnet of microscopic dimensions that is equivalent to the
flow of electric charges in a loop. For eg. the electrons circling the nucleus is a dipole.

The moving coil galvanometer

A moving coil galvanometer is an instrument that used to measure small amounts of currents.

Current sensitivity- It is defined as the deflection produced in the galvanometer when unit current

flows through it. , where A is the area of coil of the galvanometer, N is the turns in the coil,
and B is the strength of the magnetic file, and k is the torsional constant of spring.

Voltage sensitivity- It is defined as the deflection produced in the galvanometer when a unit voltage is
applied across the two terminals of the galvanometer.

Ammeter- It is an instrument used to measure current in an electrical circuit.

Conversion of Galvanometer into an Ammeter

A galvanometer can be converted into an ammeter of given range by connecting a suitable low
resistance S (shunt resistance) in parallel to the given galvanometer.

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The value of shunt resistance is

Voltmeter- It is an instrument used to measure potential difference across any element in an electrical
circuit.

Conversion of Galvanometer into a Voltmeter

A galvanometer can be converted into a voltmeter of given range by connecting a suitable low resistance
R in series with the galvanometer.

The value of resistance R is,

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