Effect of material size on magnetization

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the relationship between the size of ferromagnetic materials and their generated magnetic fields. It is established that saturation magnetization, represented by the formula M = N/V * μ, indicates that magnetization is size-independent. However, the vectorial addition of magnetic fields suggests that cutting a ferromagnetic material in half would double the magnetic field, which is a misconception. The analysis reveals that while the number of magnetic dipoles increases with the volume of the material, the strength of each dipole decreases with distance, leading to a complex interaction that maintains consistent magnetic energy before and after separation of the coils.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of ferromagnetic materials and their properties
  • Familiarity with magnetic field equations, specifically B = μ0(H + M)
  • Knowledge of magnetic dipoles and their behavior
  • Basic grasp of electromagnetism, particularly solenoid behavior
NEXT STEPS
  • Explore the implications of saturation magnetization in different ferromagnetic materials
  • Investigate the relationship between magnetic field strength and coil configuration in electromagnets
  • Learn about the behavior of magnetic dipoles in varying distances and their impact on field strength
  • Examine the conservation of magnetic energy in systems involving multiple coils
USEFUL FOR

Physicists, electrical engineers, and students studying electromagnetism or materials science will benefit from this discussion, particularly those interested in the effects of material size on magnetization and magnetic field generation.

Liam89
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I'm a bit confused about the effect of the size of ferromagnetic material on the magnetic field it generates so I was hoping someone could explain it to me.

The saturation magnetization is given by
M = \frac{N}{V}*μ
but this suggests that the magnetization is independent of the size of the material, but since
B = μ0(H + M)
and since B fields add up vectorially this would suggest cutting a piece of ferromagnetic material in two would double the magnetic field, which doesn't make sense, so I was wondering what I was missing?
 
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What makes sense is that magnetized material can be thought of as composed of elementary magnetic dipoles m packed together with uniform volume density, so the number Nm of such dipoles goes as r3 - the cube of linear dimensions of a sample of characteristic length r. You know I take it that the field strength of each dipole m drops off with distance as 1/r3. So guess what one finds when combining those two factors.
 
Liam89 said:
I'm a bit confused about the effect of the size of ferromagnetic material on the magnetic field it generates so I was hoping someone could explain it to me.

The saturation magnetization is given by
M = \frac{N}{V}*μ
but this suggests that the magnetization is independent of the size of the material, but since
B = μ0(H + M)
and since B fields add up vectorially this would suggest cutting a piece of ferromagnetic material in two would double the magnetic field, which doesn't make sense, so I was wondering what I was missing?

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/solenoid.html

The formula shows that for a long (L >> R) electromagnet: B=μ0 N/L I.

Perhaps I can use this formula for your case and say that if the current remains the same but N increases, what will happen? As long as L also increases B will remain the same.
So now if I then separate this long electromagnet into 2 (still long) electromagnets, with the currents still the same value, how much is B for each separate coil? Well it’s the same as before.

An interesting thing is: what happens to the flux when I separate? Answer: since: φ = B x A, it looks like if we separate these coils far enough we have twice the amount of flux. How much is the total magnetic energy of the coils before and after separation? Answer: the same.

Question: what happened to the energy I needed to separate the coils?
 

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