Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store

The Study of Electricity and Magnetism

ffImage
Last updated date: 19th Apr 2024
Total views: 329.1k
Views today: 5.29k
hightlight icon
highlight icon
highlight icon
share icon
copy icon

The Study of Electromagnetism

To study the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction or to study the magnetic field due to electric current flowing through the coil,  we need to precisely understand Electricity and magnetism separately first. 


Electricity and magnetism both are the presentations of a single underlying electromagnetic force. It is a branch of physical science that explains the interactions of electricity as well as magnetism, both as separate phenomena and also as a singular electromagnetic force. 


A magnetic field can always be created by a moving electric current and a magnetic field and can induce the movement of electrical charges. The rules of electromagnetism also describe the geomagnetic and electromagnetic phenomena by elucidating how charged particles of atoms interact.


Before the invention of technology, electromagnetism was possibly most strongly expounded in the form of lightning and the theory of electromagnetic radiation in the form of light. An ancient man ignited fires that he thought were kept alive in trees struck by lightning. Magnetism has been used long back employed for navigation in the compass. It is known that the magnetic poles of the earth have exchanged positions in the past.


Understanding the Theory of Electromagnetism

To study the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction and to study the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction project, you need to understand the rules of electrostatics, and also the study of electric charges at rest were first noted by the ancient Romans. 


They also noticed how a brushed comb would attract particles. It is now known that electric charges take place in two distinct forms, one is the positive charges and another is the negative charges. The like charges always tend to repel each other, whereas the opposite charges attract each other.


The force that does the work of attracting positive charges to negative charges weakens with distance but is truly very powerful which is up to 40 times stronger than the pull of gravity at the earth’s surface. This fact can easily be exhibited by a small magnet that holds or suspends an object. The small magnet applies a force at least alike to the gravity’s pull from the entire Earth.


The reality that opposite charges attract means most of this force is neutralized and not seen in full strength. The negative charge is usually carried by the electrons of the atom, while the positive charges live in with the protons inside the atomic nucleus. Other less known particles can also carry a charge. When a material’s electrons are not tightly bound to the nucleus of the atom, they can move from atom to atom, and that substance is called a conductor that can conduct electricity. Contrarily, when the electron binding is powerful, the material resists electron flow and is known as an insulator.


The theory of electromagnetism is a unified expression of an underlying force that is the electromagnetic force. This can be seen in the movement of electrical charges, which gives rise to magnetism. It was a Scottish physicist named James Clerk Maxwell, who published a unifying theory of electricity and magnetism. The theory arose from former German mathematician Carl Fredrich Gauss, French physicist Charles Augustin de Coulomb, and French scientist André Marie Ampère.


This theory is also necessary to study the magnetic field due to electric current flowing through the coil.


Ampere's Law 

In the event of a static electric field, the line integral of the magnetic field surrounded by an enclosed loop is always proportional to the electric current flowing through the loop. This is very convenient for the calculation of magnetic fields for simple geometries. 


Faraday's Law 

Now, to study the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction, you need to understand Faraday's Law. According to the law, in the magnetic environment of a coil of wire if any change occurs then it will cause a voltage (emf) to be "induced" in the coil. No matter how the change is produced, the voltage will be generated. The change could be produced even by changing the magnetic field strength, or moving a magnet toward or away from the coil, or moving the coil into or out of the magnetic field, also by rotation of the coil relative to the magnet, etc. 


Faraday's law is a fundamental relationship that has arrived from Maxwell's equations. It provides a succinct summary of the ways a voltage (or emf) can be generated by a changing magnetic environment. The induced emf in a coil equals the negative of the rate of change of magnetic flux times the no. of turns in the coil. It entails the interaction of charge with a magnetic field. 


The Study of the Phenomenon of Electromagnetic Induction

The study of the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction is a change in the magnetic field across a loop of wire that gives a result in the generation of an induced emf. When there is an occurrence of relative motion between a magnet and the coil, the magnetic flux changes. This leads to an electromotive force being generated in the coil. This electromotive force generates the induced current. 

FAQs on The Study of Electricity and Magnetism

1. Write a Short Note on Gauss's Law for Magnetism.

Ans: The net magnetic flux out of any closed surface is always zero. This amounts to a statement about the magnetic field’s sources. For a magnetic dipole, any enclosed surface in the magnetic flux will be directed inward toward the south pole and will equal the flux outward from the north pole. The net flux for dipole sources will always be zero. If there were a magnetic monopole source, then it would give a non-zero area integral. The vector field’s divergence is proportional to the point source density, and therefore, the form of Gauss's law for magnetic fields is then a statement that there are no magnetic monopoles.

2. What is Electricity?

Ans: Electricity is defined as the flow of electrical power or charges. It is a secondary energy source that is made available to us from the conversion of other sources of energy such as coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear power as well as other natural sources, which are called primary sources. The energy sources that are used for the making of electricity can be renewable or nonrenewable, but electricity itself is neither renewable nor non-renewable. 


It is a basic part of nature and is one of the most widely used forms of energy on the planet. Various cities and towns were built alongside waterfalls that turned water wheels to perform work. Before the invention of electricity, houses were lit with kerosene lamps, food was kept in ice boxes for cooling down, and during winter rooms were warmed by burning of wood or coal.

Students Also Read