What is Magnetic field: Definition and 1000 Discussions

A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to the magnetic field. A permanent magnet's magnetic field pulls on ferromagnetic materials such as iron, and attracts or repels other magnets. In addition, a magnetic field that varies with location will exert a force on a range of non-magnetic materials by affecting the motion of their outer atomic electrons. Magnetic fields surround magnetized materials, and are created by electric currents such as those used in electromagnets, and by electric fields varying in time. Since both strength and direction of a magnetic field may vary with location, they are described as a map assigning a vector to each point of space or, more precisely—because of the way the magnetic field transforms under mirror reflection—as a field of pseudovectors.
In electromagnetics, the term "magnetic field" is used for two distinct but closely related vector fields denoted by the symbols B and H. In the International System of Units, H, magnetic field strength, is measured in the SI base units of ampere per meter (A/m). B, magnetic flux density, is measured in tesla (in SI base units: kilogram per second2 per ampere), which is equivalent to newton per meter per ampere. H and B differ in how they account for magnetization. In a vacuum, the two fields are related through the vacuum permeability,




B


/


μ

0


=

H



{\displaystyle \mathbf {B} /\mu _{0}=\mathbf {H} }
; but in a magnetized material, the terms differ by the material's magnetization at each point.
Magnetic fields are produced by moving electric charges and the intrinsic magnetic moments of elementary particles associated with a fundamental quantum property, their spin. Magnetic fields and electric fields are interrelated and are both components of the electromagnetic force, one of the four fundamental forces of nature.
Magnetic fields are used throughout modern technology, particularly in electrical engineering and electromechanics. Rotating magnetic fields are used in both electric motors and generators. The interaction of magnetic fields in electric devices such as transformers is conceptualized and investigated as magnetic circuits. Magnetic forces give information about the charge carriers in a material through the Hall effect. The Earth produces its own magnetic field, which shields the Earth's ozone layer from the solar wind and is important in navigation using a compass.

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  1. S

    Creating a magnetic field near a pipe

    I want to wrap no. 16 copper wire around 1" copper pipe to create a mag field. At 120v / 1 amp AC, how many turns will I need to get about 5 milligauss near the pipe?
  2. K

    I Hamiltonian of a particle in a magnetic field

    I've just started Quantum mechanics by McIntyre and have understood the following about operators which the author wrote till chapter 2: Each observable has an operator Operators act on kets to produce another kets. Only eigenvalues of an operator are possible values of a measurement. Now...
  3. K

    I Exact dynamics of spin in varying magnetic field

    Consider an uncharged particle with spin one-half moving with speed ##v## in a region with magnetic field ##\textbf{B}=B\textbf{e}_z##. In a certain length ##L## of the particle's path, there is an additional, weak magnetic field ##\textbf{B}_\perp=B_\perp \textbf{e}_x##. Assuming the electron...
  4. Istiak

    Velocity along the cylinder axis

    Since the question says that "velocity along the cylinder axis" and "magnetic field perpendicular to the cylinder axis". So cross product of velocity and magnetic field becomes their magnitude. ##\vec v\times \vec B=||v|| \\ ||B||## So ##\vec F=qvB## ##mg=qv\frac{\mu_0 nI}{4\pi r}## At first...
  5. L

    An iron cylinder inside a solenoid

    From ##\oint_{\Gamma}\vec{H}\cdot d\vec{l}=\sum I## by Ampere's Law which gives ##H \Delta l=\Delta N\cdot i\Leftrightarrow H=n i## where ##n=## number of turns per unit length so ##i=\frac{H}{n}=\frac{10^3 A / m}{\frac{200}{0.2m}}=1 A##. Since ##\vec{H}=\frac{\vec{B}-\mu_0\vec{M}}{\mu_0}## we...
  6. Istiak

    Find the equation of this magnetic field

    When I try following numbers from internet then I don't get an expected answer. ## \mu_0 = 1.25663706 × 10-6 m kg s^{-2} A^{-2}## ##q =1.60217662 × 10^{-19} coulombs ## ##r=2.82x10^{-15} m## Velocity of that electron is given in question ##\vec v= 2 \times 10^6 \\ \mathrm{ms^{-1}}##Since...
  7. Sebobo

    Engineering Helmholtz pair, magnetic field in 3D

    As far as I can tell, the shape looks like a cuboid with 8 arms pointing in all directions.
  8. N

    Current vs Current Density vs Magnetic Field

    If I want to carry 10 A through an 8 AWG wire, I understand that there will be a specific magnetic field around the wire which will decrease as I move outward from the wire radially. Let's consider the center of that wire as coordinates (x,y)=(0,0). An object located at (0,10) would see a...
  9. Swordwhale

    Fourier transform radial component of magnetic field

    Hello everybody! I have a question concerning the Fourier transformation: So far I have experimentially measured the magnetic field of a quadrupole but as the hall effect sensor had a fixed orientation I did two series, one for the x, one for y component of the magnetic field, I have 50 values...
  10. J

    I Perfect conductor in rotating magnetic field

    Hello all, what would happen to a perfectly conducting cylinder immersed in a rotating magnetic field, with the rotation axis parallel to that of the cylinder? I guess the cylinder would start to rotate with the field? Right? Thank you
  11. godiswatching_

    What is the effect of a 1 cm gap on the magnetic field in a solenoid?

    Hey, I was trying to figure out this problem. I got (a) using B = mu * NI/L but I'm not sure how to start the part about the magnetic field in the gap after the solenoid is ripped in half with 1 cm gap. Thanks for the help!
  12. Boltzman Oscillation

    Help finding the magnetic field of a current loop

    Hi all, my work is shown on the attached image. The boxed equation is what I get to but I do not understand how to go from there to what the book has. I am guessing that the problem arises when trying to solve the cross product. I understand that I will need to find the value of the sine of the...
  13. guyvsdcsniper

    Help with unit vector for a magnetic field

    So when evaluation the cross product of the velocity of the charge and the unit vectors associated with the point I am getting v x r = j x [ i + j]. Well j x j is 0. j x i = -k, but yet the answer is positive. Why is this?
  14. H

    I How does QM explain that we see electrons circulating in a magnetic field?

    Hi Pfs. I think that QM can explain the classical things explained by classical physics. Using mean values and so on. We know that in a constant magnetic field an electron will rotate on a circle (at the macroscopic scale approximation) I have the answer for the Larmor precession but how to...
  15. desperatestudent123

    Calculating magnetic field given dl, current, and radius vector

    I used the above equation, and started with getting the cross product of dl and r, which was equal to 0.00195i+0.00365k. From there, I divided each component by the magnitude of radius cubed (0.827^3). I then multiplied by I and u naught(u_0=4pi*10^-7), and then divided by 4pi. The answer I got...
  16. Caleydos

    Magnetic field produced by linear current in COMSOL

    Hello, I have used an edge current of 10 A through a 0,45 cm (lenght) wire inside an air sphere. The thing is that, according with Ampere law, the magnetic field (B) produced at a 1 mm of distance from the wire shall be 0,002 T, and I am obtaining much higher values in this simulation (around...
  17. Ethan

    Finding Multiple Angles from Sine Values on the Unit Circle

    I got 41 and correspondingly 49 from this. It said its wrong
  18. A

    Magnetostatiscs: dipole moment and magnetic field

    Hello! I tried to solve a) see figure below, is it correct? b) so what I think I can do is to solve ## M_{12} ## from the equation of the magnetic flux then I will get ## \frac{\Phi}{I} = M_{12}## Then I can even use the equation får the magnetic flux and the magnetic field $$ \Phi = \int \vec...
  19. J

    Is the magnetic field B→. a state function and exact differential?

    is the magnetic field B→. a state function and exact differential? I argued that it's a state function, what do you guys think
  20. F

    How can I detect magnetic fields which are weaker than the Earth's?

    I don't have access to high power systems, or ultra precise detectors.(around 10V/ 1A) Can I detect small variations (frequencies ?) of magnetic field, while ignoring the noise caused by the Earth's magnetic field ? My goal is to measure the magnetic field through a line in order to trace it...
  21. K

    Electric field in a rotating rod in a magnetic field

    The first part of the problem seems easy enough, the free electrons in the wire would move in a circle owing to an electric field that would be induced in the rod which would provide the centripetal force for the same (Please correct me if I am wrong). So we have $$eE=mω^2x$$, where e is the...
  22. W

    What Causes the Non-Circular Distribution of Magnetic Fields in Steel Ducts?

    Hi all, first time on this forum. I know this may sound like a stupid question, but how does the magnetic field distribute? I am working on FEMM and i am analysing magnetic losses on steel ducts. I was checking the flux density and the magnetic field distributions and i was surprised when i...
  23. Einstein44

    I Calculating Magnetic field strength of a magnet

    I have been trying to calculate the magnetic flux thought a single loop of wire occurring from a magnet (meaning it has a nonuniform field), so I have the following equation: Φ=∮BdAcosθ Now my problem is that I do not know how to calculate the magnetic field strength (B)of that magnet (which...
  24. V

    Engineering What is the magnetic field of a half toroid?

    Hello, I would like to know what is the magnetic field of a half toroid. Would we use Ampere's law? So, considering that the integral is equal to BA, we would have BA = μo * i, then B = (μo * i) / r. But, using Biot-Savart's law, by symmetry, it seems that the vector sum of all the...
  25. N

    B Why do moving charged particles feel a force in a magnetic field?

    When I read things about magnetism on internet, I don't understand at all about one thing: If a moving particle receive a force if it's in a magnetic field, so it should accelerate, so what happen if we change the referential so that the particle now don't move? The particle shouldn't receive...
  26. jjson775

    Electron motion after collision in a magnetic field

    Isn‘t this a straightforward problem of conservation of momentum? See attached.
  27. Paige_Turner

    B The Impact of Tidal Force on a Star's Magnetic Field and Supernova

    And if a star is severely stretched by tidal force, how does that affect its magnetic field and the process of it collapsing at the start of a supernova?
  28. P

    Magnetic field - General current in a cube

    I could solve a similar (rather, a specific case of the above) where the current entered through a corner and left from the corner opposite to it along the body diagonal of the cube. For this specific case, I was able to easily exploit symmetry to deduce the answer (0). However, I cannot think...
  29. docnet

    B Entangled protons in a uniform magnetic field?

    In NMR, protons that are near each other exchange energy with each other by photon emission and absorption. Proton A is spin down, and proton B is spin up. proton A emits a photon and becomes spin up, and proton B absorbs this photon and becomes spin down. have the two protons been entangled?
  30. VictorMedvil

    A What Superconductor Can Have The Highest Magnetic Field Strength?

    Hello, I asked a question about superconductors in 2020 and I was now wondering what superconducting chemical/material can have the highest magnetic field strength before the superconductivity is destroyed by it? Secondly, What the is maximum magnetic field strength of said material in Tesla per...
  31. LCSphysicist

    Magnetic field of a permanently magnetized cylinder

    I need to find the magnetic field of a permanently magnetized cylidner: In calculating the magnetic field, i find that it should be $M_{0} \mu / 2$ and $H = M_{0} / 2$ inside. I just want to make sure that i understand the concepts in this type of problems. Since $M = H \chi (1)$, does this...
  32. F

    Magnetic field generated by a current in a wire - special relativity

    First I wrote in ##S'##, by using Gauss theorem $$ \int_{\Sigma} \underline E' \cdot \hat n d\Sigma = \frac Q {\varepsilon_0} \rightarrow E'(r)2\pi rH=\frac{\lambda'H}{\varepsilon_0} $$ $$ \underline E'(\underline r)=\frac{\lambda'}{2\pi\varepsilon_0r}\hat r $$ Its components are...
  33. LCSphysicist

    I'm not understanding how to calculate the magnetic field of a sphere

    I need to calculate the magnetic field generated by a static sphere at its center. On the surface of the sphere flows a constant current ##K \hat \phi##. Now, my guess was that the field produced would be equal to the field produced by a lot of rings, that is, i will split the sphere in a lot...
  34. alyssmainwrg

    Why does a magnet do work on a flying nail?

    When a charged particle moves in a magnetic field, the magnetic field will not work. But when a nail flying over a permanent magnet is attracted by the magnet, the magnet does work on the nail. Can anybody explain why this is so?
  35. J

    B Electron charge and spin creating a magnetic field?

    From what I understand, electrons are negatively charged, however, I have recently come to learn that electrons also have a spin which creates a magnetic field around each electron. I don't understand how the electron can be a negative monopole, yet have a completely independent magnetic field...
  36. PhysicsTest

    Production of the magnetic field from 3-phase currents

    This is not a homework problem, I want to calculate the equation of the magnetic field intensity from the 3 phase currents separated by 120Degrees. The 3 currents are ##I_{{aa}^{'}} = I_M\sin \omega t ; -> eq1 \ I_{{bb}^{'}} = I_M\sin(\omega t - 120); -> eq2\ I_{{cc}^{'}} = I_M\sin(\omega t...
  37. Mikkel

    Ultra high energy cosmic ray deflection angle causes by magnetic field

    I'm given an ultra-high energy cosmic ray with energy 10^20 eV. It is coming from a source 10 Mpc away with an extragalactic magnetic field with strength B = 10^-9 G. I am to determine the maximum angular deflection of this cosmic ray, so it hits Earth. I don't have an attempt of the solution...
  38. D

    Can any object cause fluctuations in a magnetic field?

    Summary:: Can a moving object cause disruptions in a magnetic field that could be detectable? Hello, I was hoping someone could assist me on a query I have regarding disruptions in a magnetic field. For some context, I am creating a science fiction story which features a non-humanoid alien...
  39. S

    I Magnetism and Gravity Discussion/Questions

    Hi all, I've recently become transfixed with the idea of magnetism and gravity. I have two main questions I'd like to see discussed more. 1. Would it be possible to harness magnetic fields for energy on earth/for acceleration between planets? 1a. Has this been studied at all? 2. Why do we...
  40. D

    An electron enters a magnetic field

    Hi, I tried to solve this exercise but I'm not sure about the process. First of all, I imposed that "K = E": so that "v = √ ( (2q ∆V)/m))" then I replaced in "r = m v / (| q |B)", v with "√ ( (2q ∆V)/m))", and found out that R = (2√(2)) r. Then for the second point, I imposed Lorenz Force...
  41. D

    Problems about magnetic field, electromotive force, induced current

    Hi, I was practicing some problems on the magnetic field and the electromotive force, when I got stuck on these two exercises. Could you help me figure out how to proceed? In the first problem, I tried to find the magnetic field flux by multiplying the induced current for ∆t and R. Should I now...
  42. qh4305

    Exploring the Zero Energy of a Circuit in a Magnetic Field

    Why is the energy of a circuit placed in a magnetic field at infinity zero?
  43. docnet

    I Larmor precession of an electron in a magnetic field?

    In QFT where the electromagnetic field is mediated by virtual photons, is it possible to describe the larmor precession of an electron as a series of emission and absorption of virtual photons? how does the spin angular momentum "evolve" over a series of events? This feels like a challenging...
  44. P

    Current generated by plasma of uneven density in a Magnetic Field

    I am only asking about part (b)(i) and (b)(ii). Below is the explanation for (b)(i). What is going on in the above? I understand up till the 3rd line, about the left/right hand circular motion. What is the "upward motion" the solution mentioned? Is it suggesting that ions are moving...
  45. G

    Different methods of strengthening a magnetic field.

    Hello! Lately I've been experimenting with the ways an electromagnet effects a Rare Earth magnet. The electromagnet we used was taken from a vibrator massager, probably 50s vintage. The resistance of the coil is 96 ohms and consumes about 1.25 amps when operated on 120 volts AC. When the...
  46. C

    System of two spin 1/2 particles in an external magnetic field

    So what I'm not sure on, is calculating the matrix elements for part (iii) with Pauli spinors and Pauli matrices, and then finding the form of the corresponding states. As I don't see how using the hint helps. The following is using the eigenvalues of the spin-operators. Provided what I...
  47. P

    Why is magnetic field half at the sides of a solenoid?

    For a solenoid, magnetic field at the centre = ##\mu_0nI##. I see the argument on why at the opening at the ends of the solenoid, the B-field is ##\frac12\mu_0nI##. Apparently, B-field is ##\frac12 \mu_0nI## at the sides of the solenoid too. (ie at/within the wires that make up the solenoid)...
  48. docnet

    I Can an electron in a magnetic field radiate a virtual photon?

    In Theoretical Minimum: Quantum mechanics, Leonard Susskind describes an electron in the higher energy spin state in a magnetic field radiates a photon of energy ##\hbarγ|B_0|## and flips into the lower energy spin state. I am wondering if this photon is related to the "virutal photon" that...
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