Magnetic properties of electrons

[esha]

my textbook says that electrons have a basic characteristic of magnetism just like charge and mass. this magnetic property in some materials adds up to result in a permanent magnet and in some others nullifies each other. how does it really occur? moreover if electrons have magnetic properties why can only currents create magnetic fields? why can't a static charge create a magnetic field?

 

[Khashishi]

Yes, electrons have a magnetic moment which comes from the "spin" of the electron. It's not spinning in the geometric sense (of having parts that rotate around a center), but it does have an angular momentum. It's a fact of the universe which can't be explained with classical (non-quantum) physics.

moreover if electrons have magnetic properties why can only currents create magnetic fields?

That's not correct. You can have a magnetic field with no current.

 

[esha]

when you are talking about the spin of the electrons... are you talking bout the magnetic quantum number? then i guess paramagnetism will help me to decide whether a molecule is magnetic or not through the magnetic orbital theory...

< Mentor Note -- fixeds text speak in post. Text speak is not allowed at the PF >[/color]

 

[esha]

btw if i find a charge is paramagnetic will it generate magnetic field lines when kept stationary just like electric field lines?

 

[Khashishi]

I was just talking about a lone electron, since you didn't mention molecules in your original post. In a molecule, you have both the spin and orbital angular momentum of the electrons contributing to the magnetism. Paramagnetic materials have electrons which are unpaired, so each atom will have some magnetic field. But the direction of the spin and orbit will be random for each atom, so for a bulk material, the magnetism cancels out. But an external field will cause the spins and orbits to line up and create an induced field.

 

[esha]

thanks... for the help...