Magnets

A bit of history
• The ancient Greeks knew about "lodestones“
(rare natural magnets) with the power to
attract iron.
• One site where such stones were found was
near the city of Magnesia in Asia Minor (now
Turkey), and from that (perhaps) came the
term "magnetism."
• But they were not the first to understand how
to use it.
 A bit of history
• Somewhere around 500 ACE, the Chinese built
a primitive compass by placing a lodestone on
a boat in a bowl of water.
• The boat always rotated to point in the same
direction, no matter where or how the
experiment was performed.
• The boat was never pulled in any direction: it
only rotated.
 William Gilbert
• Published On the Magnet and
Magnetic Bodies in 1600.
• First understood that the earth
was itself a magnet.
 Magnetic Field
• A region of magnetic influence is called a
magnetic field. The field can be represented by
lines of magnetic force (flux).
• The symbol for magnetic field is B.
• A magnetic field is produced by a change in
motion at the atomic level shown by electrons
moving about a nucleus.
 Domain Theory
Domain:
• A region in a ferromagnetic material that behaves as a
tiny magnet (caused by the spinning electrons). There
are millions of such domains in the magnet.
Domain Theory:
• The reason that an object is magnetic (has magnetic
properties) is that all of its domains (regions of magnetic
moments) are aligned in the same manner. If the
domains are not aligned in the same direction, then the
object doesn’t have magnetic properties.
Domain Theory
 Domain Theory
• describes a magnetic field at the atomic level
• 2 kinds of electron motion about the nucleus
1. Electrons spin on their axes
2. Electrons revolve about the nucleus

e
• All atoms have this motion
• not all materials are magnetic because magnetic
field generated by 1 atom is cancelled out by the
adjacent atom
• When electron spins are such that the generated
magnetic fields are in the same direction, a net
magnetic field is produced
• This occurs in ferromagnetic substances


B 
B
 Sources of Magnetism
• A strongly magnetized bar consists of aligned
domains.
 Sources of Magnetism
• A broken magnet
 Magnets: Overview
• Has two “ends” or
poles, called N and S
• Opposite poles
attract; like poles
repel
 Magnets: Overview
• However, if you cut a magnet in half, you don’t
get a north pole and a south pole – you get
two smaller magnets.
 Ferromagnetic material
• The domains persist when the external
magnetic field is removed
• Also called “hard” magnets or permanent
 Paramagnetic material
• Domains can align with an external magnetic
field
• The domains do not persist when the
external magnetic field is removed
• Also called “soft” magnets
 Nonmagnetic material
• Atom has no net magnetic field so there can
be no domain
• Exhibits no magnetic effects
• Example: copper, gold and silver
 Magnetization
• An external magnetic field will twist
the domains into alignment
– Domains are randomly oriented in
unmagnetized iron
– Incomplete alignment of domains in
slightly magnetized iron
– Virtually all of the domains are aligned
in strongly magnetized iron
 Magnets: Overview
• Magnetism can be destroyed by heat and
restored again by cooling.
The earth as a magnet
 Magnets and Magnetic Fields

Magnetic fields can be visualized using

magnetic field lines, which are always closed
loops.
 Magnets and Magnetic Fields

A uniform magnetic field is constant in

magnitude and direction.

The field between

these two wide poles
is nearly uniform.
 Magnetic Forces
• Hans Christian Ørsted is
credited with discovering the
link between current and
magnetic forces. (1820)
• He was giving a demonstration
of the battery when he
noticed that a compass always
reacted when he turned the
electricity off and on.
 Electric Currents and Magnetic Field

• Spinning or rotating
electrons are
responsible for
magnetism in iron
• Moving charges set up
magnetic fields
• Compasses (bar
magnets) line up in
circles around a wire
carrying current.
Iron Filings form Concentric Circles
around Wire
First Left Hand Rule
 Right Hand Rule
Point your fingers in direction of velocity
Rotate wrist so you can sweep your fingers in
the direction of the magnetic field without
moving your palm
Thumb points in the direction of the Force.
Force of a Charged Particle
• A charged particle (or
current) experiences a
magnetic force when it is
moving through, but not
parallel with, a magnetic
field.
 Magnetic Force
• The vector force is given by a vector equation:
 
F  qv  B

• The magnitude of the force is given by:

F  qvB sin   v , B 

• The direction of the force is given by the right

hand rule
 Magnetic Field Defined
• The magnetic field strength is defined in terms
of the magnitude of the force that is produced
on a charged object.

F
B
qv sin 
Nikola Tesla 1875-1943
 Magnetic Field Defined
 F N N
 B   
 q   v  C  m/s A  m
 B   Tesla  T
1 T  10 G (gauss)
4
 Magnetic Fields
Source Field (Gauss)

Earth 0.5

Appliance 10

Bar magnet 100

Human limit 2000

electro-magnet 50,000
 Forces on Conductors
• A current-carrying conductor is a stream of
moving charges.
• There will be a force on the conductor if it is
placed in a magnetic field.
 Force on a wire
Force per charge Fmax  qvB
Number of charges N  nA

Fmax  BI 
If the current is not perpendicular to the field B, then the
force will be

F  BI sin 
 Motion of Charged Particle

• Since F is always perpendicular to v, the motion is circular

2
mv
F  qvB 
r
mv
r
qB
Magnetic force current carrying Conductor
Magnetic force current carrying Conductor
Direction of F is find out by RHR
 Measuring Magnetic Strength
• Not easy to measure
the strength of a
magnetic field
• Gauss meter is used to
measure a magnetic
field
– meters uncommon due
to limited use
 Earth as a Giant magnet
• Earth's magnetic field is thought to be
generated deep inside the planet
• An inner core of solid iron is surrounded by an
outer core of molten iron
• They rotate at different rates, and the
interaction between the regions creates what
scientists call a "hydromagnetic dynamo."
 Earth’s Magnetosphere Layer
• Also named Van Allen Belts
• Protects the Earth from celestial bodies, harmful
cosmic rays and particles
• Belts at thousands of kilometers above the earth
protect the living things on the Earth
from the fatal energy
that would otherwise

reach it from space

 Magnetic Pole Location
• Location of magnetic pole is not
fixed
• Geographic north is called the Earth's
North Magnetic Pole by convention
The Sun is a Great Big Magnet
 Sun’s Magnet Field
• The Sun is a big magnet
• During solar minimum the Sun's magnetic
field resembles that of an iron bar magnet,
with great closed loops near the equator and
open field lines near the poles
• The Sun's dipolar field is about as strong as a
refrigerator magnet, or 50 gauss
• Earth's magnetic field is 100 times weaker
Thanks