Electromagnetism vectors

1. Mar 19, 2003

Arawn

I can understand what the electric field vector E and the magnetic flux density vector B mean, but what exactly are the meanings of the two other vectors, the electric displacement vector D and the magnetic intensity vector H? What are their physical explanations?

2. Mar 19, 2003

pmb

When mattter is present Maxwell's equations take on a more simple form when E is replaced by D and B replaced by H - a form similar to the vaccuum equations. The premitivity represents the polarization of the material and the permeability represents the magnitization of the material.

Pete

3. Mar 19, 2003

damgo

To elaborate a little:
Most types of matter have a tendency to align themselves with or against magnetic and electric fields in their vicinity, thus increasing or decreasing those fields. To a good approximation, you can often use D and H to represent the "imposed" or "external" fields, and E and B to be the real fields which will include the contributions from the matter.

4. Mar 21, 2003

Arawn

Thanks for the replies! Things you told sound sensible, and I think I'm having a bit better understanding now.