EEE6012

Engineering Electromagnetism

Magnetism
 By,
Pramod Munasinghe
B.Sc. Engineering in AIT, Thailand)
M.Sc. in Mechatronic (AIT, Thailand)

2
 Topics Covered by week by week
– Magnetism:
• field patterns,
• magnetic induction & its effects,
• magnetic screening and applications,
• applications of permanent magnets

January 2010 ICT 1102 - Electromagnetism and Optics I 3

 Magnetism
• In a region of Asia Minor known as Magnesia, rocks were found
that could attract each other,
• These rocks were called 'magnets' after their place of discovery
 Magnets and magnetic fields
● Magnet attract objects made of iron
● Any magnet (bar or horseshoe) has two ends of faces
● called poles, which is where the magnetic effect
is strongest
● poles
● North pole: the pole of a freely suspended
magnet that point toward geographic north
● South pole: the other pole points towards
the south
Magnets and magnetic fields
 Magnets and magnetic fields
• If a bar magnet is cut in half, you do not obtain an
isolated north and south poles
• Instead two magnets are produced each with a north
and south pole
• No magnetic monopole has ever been observed

• Only ferromagnetic show strong magnetic effects

• (iron, cobalt, nickel, gadolinium, and some of their
oxides and alloys)
 Magnets and magnetic fields
• There's a magnetic field surrounding a magnet
• We can draw magnetic field lines
• the direction of the magnetic field is tangent to a field line at any point
• the no. of lines per unit area is proportional to the strength of
the magnetic field

● Direction of the magnetic field at a given point

● The direction that the north pole of a compass needle would
point if placed at that point
● The lines always point out from the north pole towards the south
pole of a magnet
● Magnetic field lines continue inside a magnet

● They always form closed loops

Magnets and magnetic fields
Earth's magnetic field
 Earth’s magnetic field
• Magnetic declination:
– Angular difference between magnetic north and
true (geographical) north
• Earth’s magnetic field at most locations is not
tangent to the earth’s surface
• Angle of dip:
– Angle that the earth’s magnetic field makes with
the horizontal at any point
Uniform magnetic field
 Electric currents produce magnetic
fields
•1820 Hans Christian Oersted's experiment showed that
• an electric current produces a magnetic field

• Right hand rule 1:

•grasp the wire with your right hand so that your
thumb points in the direction of the conventional
(positive) current; then your fingers will encircle the
wire in the direction of the magnetic field
Electric currents produce magnetic
fields
Electric currents produce magnetic
fields
 Force on an electric current in a magnetic
field; Definition of B
• Oested founded that;
– A magnet exerts a force on a current-carrying wire

• The direction of the force is always perpendicular to the

direction of the current and also perpendicular to the
direction of the magnetic field, B

• Right hand rule 2:

– Orient your right hand until your outstretched fingers can point
in the direction of the conventional current I, and when you
bend your fingers they point in the direction of the magnetic
field lines, B. Then your outstretched thumb will point in the
direction of the force F on the wire.
Force on an electric current in a
magnetic field; Definition of B
 Force on an electric current in a
magnetic field; Definition of B
• Magnitude of the force:
• Directly proportional to the current I in the wire, and to the
length l of the wire exposed to the magnetic field
(assumed uniform)
• If the magnetic field B is made stronger, the force is found to
be proportionally greater
• Also depends on the angle ө between
the current direction and the
magnetic field,
being proportional to sin ө
• F α IlB sin ө
 Force on an electric current in a
magnetic field; Definition of B
• When θ=90° the force is strongest, When θ=0°
the force is zero
F = IlB sin ө
• If the current perpendicular to field B (θ=90°)
F max = IlB
• B = F max /Il
– SI unit: tesla (T)
– 1 T = 1 N/A∙m
– Older name: weber per meter squared
– 1 Wb/m2 = 1 T
– Another unit: gauss (G): 1 G = 10-4 T
 Force on an electric current in a
magnetic field; Definition of B
• Representing electric current or magnetic field
– Points out of page (towards us): ʘ (tip of arrow)
– Into page: X (tail of arrow)
Force on a electric charge moving on a
magnetic field
• I =Nq/t
– I= current
– N= no. of particles
– q= charge of particle
– t=time
• l =vt
– l= distance
– v= magnitude of the velocity v of the particle
Force on a electric charge moving on a
magnetic field
• Force on moving charge in magnetic field
F = qvB sin θ
• Angle between v and B is θ
• Fmax = qvB (θ=90)
• Direction of force
– Perpendicular to B and v
Force on a electric charge moving on a
magnetic field
• Right hand rule 3:
– Orient your right hand so that
your outstretched fingers point
along the direction of the
particle’s velocity (v), and
when you bend your fingers
they must point along the
direction of B. Then your
thumb will point in the
direction of the force
– True for positive charges
– For negative charges the force
is exactly opposite direction
Force on a electric charge moving on a
magnetic field
• Path of a charged particle moving in a
plane perpendicular to a uniform
magnetic field is a circle
• Force is perpendicular to v,
magnitude of v does not change,
moves with constant speed
• Constant centripetal acceleration
a = v2/r
• For a positive particle
– Force in opposite direction
– Move counterclockwise
 Magnetic field due to long straight
wire
• Magnetic field B due to the
current in a long straight wire
is directly proportional to the
current I in the wire and
inversely proportional to the
distance r from the wire

• µ0: permeability of free space

= 4π*10-7 T∙m/A
 Force between two parallel wires
• Two current carrying wires will
exert a force on each other
• B1 produced by I1

• Force on wire 2:
Force between two parallel wires
 Solenoids and electromagnets
• Solenoid: A long coil of
wire consisting of many
loops (or turns) of wire
– Magnetic field within is
fairly large
– Acts like a magnet
– Magnetic field inside a
tightly wrapped solenoid
with N turns of wire in a
length l, each carrying
current I,
 Solenoids and electromagnets
• If a piece of iron placed inside, magnetic field is
increased greatly, because iron becomes a
magnet
• Such iron core solenoid is called an
electromagnet
• Applications of electromagnets
– Motors and generators to produce large magnetic
field
– Door bells
– Modern circuit breakers (magnetic sensors)
• Reacts quickly
Solenoids and electromagnets