Can a Magnetometer Measure Current/Voltage Through Magnetic Field Interaction?

[sktbrd2]

Okay, I am not an electrical engineer but I dabble with circuits, electronics, and electromagnets.

Id like to know if it is possible to measure the voltage, or current (not sure sure which is applicable here) using the measurement of interaction between one small magnetic field produced, and its influence on a magnetic field of an electromagnet.

Not sure if that was clear so Ill restate it. If a wire gives off a magnetic field when energized, could one hold an electromagnet X distance from said wire and the two magnetic fields would interact... Would that interaction of fields lead to finding the wires voltage or current?

Simplified: Finding the current/voltage of an unknown wire through its magnetic field.

 

[berkeman]

Okay, I am not an electrical engineer but I dabble with circuits, electronics, and electromagnets.

Id like to know if it is possible to measure the voltage, or current (not sure sure which is applicable here) using the measurement of interaction between one small magnetic field produced, and its influence on a magnetic field of an electromagnet.

Not sure if that was clear so Ill restate it. If a wire gives off a magnetic field when energized, could one hold an electromagnet X distance from said wire and the two magnetic fields would interact... Would that interaction of fields lead to finding the wires voltage or current?

Simplified: Finding the current/voltage of an unknown wire through its magnetic field.

Welcome to the PF.

You generally would not be able to find the DC voltage of a wire without making electrical contact with the conductor.

You can measure the DC or AC current flowing in a wire by using a current clamp or similar device:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_clamp

.

 

[sktbrd2]

Thanks for the reply. That might be worth a try. But I guess I am looking for something similar to a receiver coil in a metal detector,

A receiver coil in a detector is completely shielded from the magnetic field generated by the transmitter coil. However, it is not shielded from magnetic fields coming from objects in the ground. Therefore, when the receiver coil passes over an object giving off a magnetic field, a small electric current travels through the coil. This current oscillates at the same frequency as the object's magnetic field.

So having a receiver type coil over a wire would NOT lead to deriving information about that field and its electrical properties?

 

[berkeman]

Thanks for the reply. That might be worth a try. But I guess I am looking for something similar to a receiver coil in a metal detector,
So having a receiver type coil over a wire would NOT lead to deriving information about that field and its electrical properties?

Yes, you can use something like a receiver coil. But it will not be as accurate as a clamp-on meter, because it will be harder to control the distance from the wire (the B-field falls off with distance), and the orientation of the coil (it needs to be kept parallel to the wire to maximize the B-field cutting through the receiver coil loop), and you will get interference from any other currents flowing nearby.

Do you have a specific application in mind? Do you have any specifications for the amplitude of the current, AC/DC, how far away you want to sense?

 

[sktbrd2]

Thankyou for your help, but I did some more research and found what I was looking for is a Magnetometer.