Why cant thelectric field be in circumferential direction?

  • Thread starter Thread starter garylau
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Direction Field
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the impossibility of a circumferential electric field due to the requirement that electric field lines start and end at different potentials, unlike magnetic fields which can form closed loops. A method to determine the direction of the magnetic field involves using a small magnetized needle. The equations governing electric and magnetic fields show similarities, but the lack of magnetic monopoles breaks the symmetry between them, preventing the formation of a circumferential electric field. The vanishing of the electric field in certain scenarios is attributed to the absence of magnetic charges and the assumption of a static situation. Understanding these principles is crucial for grasping the behavior of electric and magnetic fields.
garylau
Messages
70
Reaction score
3
Sorry

in this question i have several things to ask
1.why can't the E field in the circumferential direction?
2.How can i find the direction of B field

3.according to the formula of curl E=-dB/dt and the curlB=u J
did they share the same property so that the direction of E is circumferential (just like B dl=u i which is ampere law so that the direction B is circumferential) and dB/dt is going straight(just the the current is going straight which is enclosed inside the boundary)?

thank
 

Attachments

  • images.jpg
    images.jpg
    30.7 KB · Views: 477
Physics news on Phys.org
1. I don't know what you mean by "circumferential".
Clearly it is possible to set up an electric field that goes in a loop: it's called an electric circuit.
But you cannot have a circular field line because the line has to start and end at different potentials.

2. You use a small magnetised needle balanced on a pivot.

3. The similarity in the equations shows that there is a similarity in the equations ...
Note, they should be:
##\nabla\times\vec E = -\partial_t\vec B## and
##\nabla\times\vec B = \mu_0\left( \vec J +\epsilon_0\partial_t \vec E \right)##
... if ##\vec J = 0## the two equations look even more alike ;)

Check what "curl" means:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curl_(mathematics)
 
Simon Bridge said:
1. I don't know what you mean by "circumferential".
Clearly it is possible to set up an electric field that goes in a loop: it's called an electric circuit.
But you cannot have a circular field line because the line has to start and end at different potentials.

2. You use a small magnetised needle balanced on a pivot.

3. The similarity in the equations shows that there is a similarity in the equations ...
Note, they should be:
##\nabla\times\vec E = -\partial_t\vec B## and
##\nabla\times\vec B = \mu_0\left( \vec J +\epsilon_0\partial_t \vec E \right)##
... if ##\vec J = 0## the two equations look even more alike ;)

Check what "curl" means:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curl_(mathematics)
you can see this picture clearly
the solution states:The magnetic field is “circumferential” in the quasistatic approximation."...but i don't know how did the solution concluded "Thus the direction of the electric field is longitudinal" from the simiarlty between the relation between the electric and magnetic fields?
 

Attachments

  • images.jpg
    images.jpg
    36.2 KB · Views: 465
What breaks the symmetry between the magnetic and the electric is the lack of magnetic monopoles: north and south magnetic charges that emanate magnetic field in the way positive and negative electric charges emanate electric field. If you had a magnetic wire carrying magnetic monopoles in a straight line they would generate a circumferential electric field in the same way an electric current generates a circumferential magnetic field.
 
  • Like
Likes Simon Bridge and garylau
mike.Albert99 said:
What breaks the symmetry between the magnetic and the electric is the lack of magnetic monopoles: north and south magnetic charges that emanate magnetic field in the way positive and negative electric charges emanate electric field. If you had a magnetic wire carrying magnetic monopoles in a straight line they would generate a circumferential electric field in the same way an electric current generates a circumferential magnetic field.
mike.Albert99 said:
What breaks the symmetry between the magnetic and the electric is the lack of magnetic monopoles: north and south magnetic charges that emanate magnetic field in the way positive and negative electric charges emanate electric field. If you had a magnetic wire carrying magnetic monopoles in a straight line they would generate a circumferential electric field in the same way an electric current generates a circumferential magnetic field.
But Why did the Electric field outside vanished in this case?
 
Simon Bridge said:
1. I don't know what you mean by "circumferential".
Clearly it is possible to set up an electric field that goes in a loop: it's called an electric circuit.
But you cannot have a circular field line because the line has to start and end at different potentials.

2. You use a small magnetised needle balanced on a pivot.

3. The similarity in the equations shows that there is a similarity in the equations ...
Note, they should be:
##\nabla\times\vec E = -\partial_t\vec B## and
##\nabla\times\vec B = \mu_0\left( \vec J +\epsilon_0\partial_t \vec E \right)##
... if ##\vec J = 0## the two equations look even more alike ;)

Check what "curl" means:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curl_(mathematics)
But Why did the Electric field outside vanished in this case?
 
In what case? Please be specific.
 
Simon Bridge said:
In what case? Please be specific.
See the statement inside the red circle.
 

Attachments

  • images.jpg
    images.jpg
    38.4 KB · Views: 491
Oh so the question had nothing to do with the quoted text? Fine.
To see why the electric field vanishes, try doing the problem.
 
  • Like
Likes garylau
  • #10
Simon Bridge said:
Oh so the question had nothing to do with the quoted text? Fine.
To see why the electric field vanishes, try doing the problem.
because the total current inside the object is 0?
 
  • #11
That contributes to it, yes, but the main point is the absence of magnetic charges and the fact that the problem assumes a static situation.
 
Back
Top