Field lines Definition and 206 Threads

How can magnetic field lines "snap"? In astronomy, magnetic field lines around stars or planets are sometimes said to "snap" and release their stored energy. e.g. the aurora borealis is created that way http://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/auror2.htm Also gamma ray bursts of neutron stars...

simple magnetic dipole moment with impossible field lines? clueless. Hello, I'm taking a first year university course in electromagnetism. At a certain point we came upon the torque on a current loop in a uniform magnetic field. There we introduced the magnetic dipole moment \overline{\mu} =...

A moving electron's magnetic field lines. How do the magnetic field lines of a moving electron in a straight line look? What about the magnetic field lines of a rotating hydrogen electron? I mean the magnetic field produced due to the electron's intrinsic spin and due to its movement in a line...

I understand the concept of electric field lines but don't understand the interaction with the equipotential lines. I understand that along each equipotential line/surface that there is no change in potential energy. I also understand the field lines need to cross perpendicularly with the...

The magnetic field surrounding a bar-magnet (for example) is continuous. The lines that are drawn to depict the strength and direction of the field don't actually exist. They are akin to drawing contours on an OS map, are they not? What therefore explains the behaviour of iron filings when...

I'm just a little confused about field lines. I have sketches of equipotentials and I'm supposed to draw the field lines on them. The one I'm looking at is a dipole with a floating electrode in the middle of the positive and neutral charge. The positive is 12V, and the floating point is 6V...

Hi. I'm a student in AP Physics this year and we started the E&M portion this week and we learned about electric fields. I was watching MIT's OpenCourseWare in order to get more comfortable with the concepts. The lecturer said that charges do not follow electric field lines because of the...

Hi I'm trying to build a permanent magnet alternator with a different approach than usual. Most PMAs have a ring of magnets alternating north and south. But I'm wondering what would the field lines look like if ALL the magnets faced one direction? Would it provide a useful magnetic field, or...

Homework Statement A positive charge is placed in the center of a cube. Are the intersections of the field lines with a side of the box uniformly distributed across that side. Explain. === I have missed some lectures due to getting the swine flu (ugh) and the material is not exactly...

Homework Statement The electric field from two charges in the plane of the paper is represented by the dashed lines and arrows below. Select a response for each statement below. (Use 'North' towards top of page, and 'East' to the right) The force on a (-) test charge at N is directed...

Like a radioactive particle emit rays, does this similar to the field lines of a charged particle? at what speed these field lines are generated from the charge particle?

what is the meaning of deceptivness of field line?? i mean for 2d surface field line = n/2pi*r (f.l. inversly proportional to r) but for 3d surface f.l.= n/4pi*r^2 (f.l. inversly proportional to r^2), since electric field = kq/r^2?? what is the reason behind it? it written in the...

Are electricity and magnetism field lines the same? please be detailed!

I'm have some conceptual problems with electric fields and waves. When I think of electromagnetic waves I imagine field lines emanating from a charge that is oscillating, consequently causing the field lines to oscillate. In diagrams showing field lines, the electric field runs parallel with the...

Homework Statement an electric field line emerges from a positive point charge +q1 at an angle x to the straight line joining it to a negative charge -q2.at what angle y will the field line enter the charge -q2? Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution sin(y/2)=sin(x/2)(q1/q2)^1/2

Hi we connect a Voltage to heads of a conductive wire how will be the field lines inside Wire ? (cylinder wire) E = \rho J so ? :D field lines are parrarell inside wire ? in whole wire Electrical field is constant ? (J must be more in center of wire) what about Extreme...

Can they exist ?? Like Magnetic Field lines and Electric Field lines

Is it possible for magnetic field lines to be broken?

Homework Statement A wire carrying 15 A of current has a length of 17 cm in a magnetic field of 0.80 T. The force on a current-carrying wire in a uniform magnetic field can be found using the equation F = BIL sin θ. Find the force on the wire for each of the following angles between the wire...

1. The problem statement, all variables and givenknown data Let r be a position vector from the origin (r=xi+yj+zk), whose magnitude is r, and let f(r) be a scalar function of r. Sketch the field lines of f(r)r Homework Equations 1 \nablax(\nabla\Psi)=0 2...

Homework Statement (i) Explain why it would not be possible to write the magnetic Field (B-field) in terms of a vector potential (A) IF magnetic monopoles existed. (ii) For an electrostatic field (E-field), define the electrostatic potential (Fi), and explain CONCISELY what is meant by a...

Homework Statement Hey I'm supposed to draw electric fields for this problem and I can't figure these 2 out. Homework Equations There really isn't any. The Attempt at a Solution It's included in the picture http://img135.imageshack.us/my.php?image=physicsge1.jpg

Homework Statement You have two metal electrodes, not touching each other. One is a circle and one is like a thin plank. The plank is at a lower electric potential. Draw electric field lines between them, including direction. Draw equipotential lines in the space between the electrodes...

Homework Statement Two of the MHD equations can be formulated as \vec{E} + \vec{v} \times \vec{B} = \eta \vec{J} \nabla \times \vec{B} = \mu_0 \vec{J} where [itex]\eta[/tex] is the resistivity of the plasma. a.) Derive an equation for the magnetic field at very high resistivity and...

Homework Statement Sketch a field line picture for a circular arc with a uniform linear charge density. Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution To do this do I just break up each segment on the arc into small segments each of charge dQ and draw the field line along the...

I know that anything casting a field obeys the inverse square law and that field lines are an abstract used to help us visualise the vectors on objects effected by the field. Why is it then that if I drop iron filings around a magnet they sort themselves into neat lines? I would expect that to...

Is the restriction that a field is divergence-free enough to ensure the field lines will be closed? How can one (dis-) prove such a statement?

I am asked to draw a picture of a person 1 second before patient is defibrillated and 10 seconds after a patient is defibrillated. I am asked to draw a general picutre of the electric field lines and charges at these two points. I know that the goal of defibrillation is to enterfere with the...

Hi all, I am trying to solve numerically as well as model the electric field lines coming out of a electrode (not a point charge) in a dielectric medium. ANy suggestions would be greatly beneficial _________________________________________________ _ separated by d + separated by d _...

Hi all, I am trying to solve numerically as well as model the electric field lines coming out of a electrode (not a point charge) in a dielectric medium. ANy suggestions would be greatly beneficial _________________________________________________ _ separated by d...

Homework Statement Magnetic and electric field lines are visually defined by field lines. Give three points to explain how the field lines can be used to describe the characteristics of these fields. Homework Equations (Not sure if needed to describe) Fm = qvBsin0, Fm = IlBsin0 The...

The field intencity around a little spherical conductor changes with reverse ratio to the square of their distance. Then let us put another little spherical charged conductor in field of first one. The field lines are no more change with the reverse ratio to the square of their distance(they are...

Why the field lines are always perpendicular to the conducting line?

do gravitational field lines always need to be straight, can't they be just curves if yes then please tell an example..?

Hello Everyone! i need some guide and hints about this... Here is the link for the picture... From the figure, the electric Field lines arising from two charges Q1 and Q2 are shown. From this drawing we can see that A) The electric field could be zero at P2 B) Both Q1 and Q2 have the...

Does anyone know when Coulomb discovered his law? And does anyone know when the concept of electric field lines was invented? I know that Faraday created the idea for the magnetic field and I was wondering if it was he who applied it to the electric field or was it someone else? Sources of...

Homework Statement Sketch the electrical field lines of a uniformly charged insulating disk. Show field lines close and far away. Homework Equations none, conceptual The Attempt at a Solution For close to the surface of disk near the center the field lines are almost perpendicular...

Homework Statement describe what field lines are (7 marks) Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution A field line is a locus that is defined by a vector field and a starting location within the field. A vector field defines a direction at all points in space; a field line may...

Homework Statement a) Sketch the electric field pattern setup by a postively charged hollow sphere. Include regions inside and regions outside the sphere. b) A conducting cube is given a positive charge. Sketch the electric field pattern both inside and outside the cube. The Attempt at a...

Does anyone know a good site where they show you examples of how to draw Electic Field lines? Problem relating to it: a) sketch the electirc field pattern set up by a positively charged hollow sphere.

I'm not sure under what heading this belongs but I'm going to ask here: Show that the field lines y = y(x) of a vector function \mathbf F(x,y) = \mathbf i F_x(x,y)+\mathbf j F_y(x,y) are solutions of the differential equation \frac {dy} {dx} = \frac {F_y(x,y)} {F_x(x,y)} Could someone...

I know that the electric field lines between two oppositely charged points are symmetric, but I can't seem tof ind any refrence as to when this symmetry breaks down. I want to say that electric field lines do not maintain symmetry if the two charges are not equal but opposite, e.g. a -4 and...

Windows Sofware To Graph Electric Field Lines ?? Hi Everyone, Does anyone know of any Windows software out there that will graph electric field lines? I recently did a physics lab where I determine point charges of some "x-rays" and from the data I gathered I need to graph the electric...

Can anyone answer me a curious question. Why are electric field lines perpendicular to equipotential lines? Is it because force and charge are inversly proportional or is there a more simple reason? Thanks.

Magnetic Field Lines Question http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9819/coil2sm.jpg Could someone tell me which is the direction of these magnetic field lines and why?

F(x,y,z)=(-\frac{y^2+2z^2}{x^2},\frac{2y}{x},\frac{4z}{x}) "Find parametric representations of the field lines." How do I parametrize all possible field lines?

Hi, I have a question about magnetic field lines in a motor-like situation. Suppose I have two horizontal bar magnets, with one north end parallel to x=-X and one south end parallel to x=X, as here: [FONT="Courier New"] -- -- |...

I always thougth the "dotted lines" illustrating the direction of a magnetic field were only a tool for vizualizing this direction... Now I read that the definition of a weber equals 10^{8} field lines. So does this mean that the field lines really exist as discrete lines along the direction...

Could anyone pls explain to me: what is the similar thing among points in the same Electric Field Line? (I have 2 particles A and B which are + and -, then I have 2 other ones C and D --> how can I know that C and D are lying in 1 EF line or in 2 different lines?) Thx so much.

Magnetic field lines? So I'v been taught throughout high school and now in college that a magnetic field has "lines of force". Also that they aren't just lines, but more like big shells around the magnet. But not one of my professors or teachers could give me a reasonable answer as to why...