MAGNETISM AND ELECTROMAGNETISM

Magnets

A legend tells that a shepherd called Magnes (who lived in the northeastern region of
Greece called Magnesia) was once fixed to the ground as the nails in his shoes stuck to the
black stone where he was resting. The rock was made of a naturally occurring iron ore
called loadstone. Loadstone is a magnetic material or magnet. A Magnet attracts objects
made out of iron, steel (an iron alloy) and to a lesser extent, nickel and cobalt. Other
materials are not appreciably affected by these objects except for a few rare elements.
That’s how poor old Magnes got glued to the rock because of the iron nails in his shoes!
Magnets have been studied more or less systematically by Peregrinus (13th century) and
later by Gilbert (17th century who is considered to be the father of both electricity and
magnetism. Gilbert also realized that the Earth behaved as a giant magnet and suggested for
the first time that electric and magnetic phenomena might by related.
Natural magnets are pieces of loadstone, a stone that contains high amounts of magnetite
(an iron ore). To day man made artificial magnets are made of different materials (all of
them include iron, nickel or cobalt). These synthetic materials are used to make artificial
magnets with convenient shapes and sizes for use. Shapes of magnets can vary as - a disc, a
bar magnet or a horse shoe magnet.

Poles of a Magnet

Small iron objects seem to gather at two different zones in the magnet. These zones are
called the “poles”. As magnets have two poles they are “dipoles”.
If a magnet is hung from a cotton thread, it will orient one of its poles pointing north.
If the thread is twisted so that the other pole points north, the magnet will promptly turn
back to the original orientation.
So there are two classes of poles: the north-
seeking pole usually called “North” and the
south-seeking pole or “South”. This property
of magnets was discovered centuries ago by
Chinese sailors and has been a powerful tool for
orientation especially for sailing across the open
seas: the compass.
Experiments show that N and S poles attract
but poles of the same name (N and N, S and
S) repel each other as happened with electric
charges.
Poles are not charges. All attempts to separate the poles of a magnet have failed. There
is not such a thing as a “monopole”: if a magnet is broken in two pieces, both pieces will
have an N and a S pole each no matter how small the pieces are cut.

When you studied forces, one of the three forces at distances was the magnetic force. A
field of magnetic forces surrounds a magnet with lines of force. These lines are given the
direction to which the N of a small compass at that point will show. Hence, magnetic lines
of force come out from the N pole of the magnet and go into its S pole.

The Magnetic Field of a Current

During the first years of the 19th century Oersted discovered that a current
is sheathed in a magnetic field. This field was detected and studied by
moving a tiny little compass and drawing small arrow showing its
orientation in this magnetic field caused by the current. The arrows will
form concentric circles with the N pole of the compass pointing as shown
in the figure: if the positive current goes in the direction of your thumb
the directions of the compass draw circles in the direction of your
fingers (use right hand). The field lines of this electromagnetic field are
as shown in the figure.

If the wire is shaped into a loop, the following figure shows how the field
at different points would look. Notice that all lines of force will point
down the page inside the loop so their effects are reinforced.

If the wire is coiled (spring-shaped) these individual loop fields superimpose and a pattern
that strongly resembles the magnetic field of a bar magnet appears:

The polarity of the coil can be

determined through the application of a second right hand rule. If
the fingers of the right hand curl around the coil in the same
direction as conventional current, the thumb points to the north
pole of the coil.

Explaining magnets

The mystery of magnets could finally be understood: magnetism is a consequence of

moving electric charges: electrons in atoms and molecules can be thought as tiny little
currents and thus atoms and molecules will show magnetic properties. These atomic or
molecular magnets are pointing to every direction so macroscopically no effect is detected.
(They cancel each other statistically). In the case of ferromagnetic materials (iron, steel,
nickel, cobalt) these tiny magnets line up in very small groups called
the domains. Domains are in turn not aligned and samples of these
materials are neither magnetic. But if an external magnetic field is
applied, they get aligned reinforcing the effect. Some experiments with
powerful microscopes and extremely sensitive microphones have shown
how the boundaries of the domains change as they snap over to align
with the field and the crackling sound as they do so. In this way, the
samples get magnetised. One of the ends becomes a N pole and the
opposite a S pole! A small piece of iron in a magnetic field turns into an
“induced magnet” and will move under its influence.

Magnets are thought to be formed by materials in which there is a permanent

alignment of its domains. According to this, N and S poles would just be apparent and
not a real thing!! That is why they cannot be separated.

Making and destroying magnets

According to what has been previously stated, an object made of a ferromagnetic material
can be magnetised if it is placed in an external magnetic field. This can be done stroking
smoothly one pole of a magnet on the object that has to be magnetised.

An electrical method can be more effective: place the object inside a solenoid by which a
current (D.C.) is passing. The domains will align under the influence of the
electromagnetic field and a magnet will be obtained. Steel, though being the most difficult
to magnetise, keeps magnetic for a long time and so forms a permanent magnet.

To destroy magnetism in a magnet you can do that by repeatedly hammering, heating

until the magnet is almost red hot or placing it inside a coil along which an alternate
(A.C.) current flows. Any of the three methods will cause the domains to loose their
alignment and magnetism will be lost.

The Earth as a Magnet

As it was previously stated, the poles of a bar magnet orient themselves so that one of them
looks to the north (North seeking or N pole) and the other one to the south (South seeking
or S pole). This “mysterious” property lead Gilbert to suggest that the Earth itself behaves
like a bar magnet with two magnetic poles near the so called geographic poles. This
“bar magnet model” is an approximation because the magnetic poles slowly move at
different rates and in different directions, so they would be at the ends of a bendable bar.
The magnetic pole near the geographic N is a south magnetic pole (it attracts the
magnets’ N) and for the same reasons the opposite holds for the magnetic pole near the
geographic S. The lines of force of the Earth’s magnetic field point towards the northern
hemisphere. Scientists have not firmly established the origin of
the Earth’s magnetic field but it is ascribed to gigantic eddy
currents in the liquid iron-nickel core of the planet. In the
diagram you can see the Earth’s surface as a green circumference
and the magnetic field lines pointing to the N. The bar magnet
shows that the magnetic S is in the northern hemisphere. The
pink line shows the magnetic N - S direction and the blue one,
the Earth’s axis joining the N and S geographic poles. The real
pattern of the Earth’s magnetic field is not this simple: there are
local variations in the field and the lines of force meander as they
go from S to N.

At any point in the Earth, the directions to the geographic and magnetic poles will differ.
The angle formed by these lines at a given location is called the declination (magnetic
declination) at that point. There are tables showing the declination at any point so that this
information allows finding the correct bearing of a ship as it travels.

Mariner’s Compass

A mariner's compass is a navigational instrument for determining

direction relative to the earth's magnetic poles. It indicates the direction of
the magnetic North. It consists of a magnetized needle pivoting freely so
that it can align itself with Earth's magnetic field. The face of the compass
generally shows a wind rose (the cardinal points) and all the set is enclosed
in a little box with a glass cover

The compass was invented in ancient China sometime before the 2nd century, and was used
for navigation by the 11th century. It has been used for centuries and is now being replaced
by modern devices such as the Global Positioning System (GPS).

Electromagnets

As we have seen before, magnets and electric currents are

closely related. We have also seen that a nail can be magnetised
by means of a current. That allows us to build electromagnets.

An electromagnet is basically a coil with an iron core inside.

If an iron core (that gets magnetised and demagnetised very
quickly) is added to a solenoid, as the current moves through
the solenoid, the core gets magnetised, reinforcing the
electromagnetic field. If the current stops, the core
demagnetises promptly, and the magnetic field disappears. This
is how an electromagnet works. Electromagnets are used on
cranes in scrap yards and steelworks, in electric bells, door
locks and relays. A rather sadistic application is shown in the
cartoon.

Fields around an electric charge

If an electric charge is at rest the space around it is affected by a field we call electric with
the lines of force spouting off the charge as we have studied. But if it starts moving a
second field affects the space: a magnetic field with lines of force (properly called lines of
induction) in concentric circles centred at the moving charge.

A current is a stream of charges moving in the same direction. That is why a current is
sheathed by a magnetic field.

An Electron Moves in a Magnetic Field

If an electron moves in a magnetic field, its own field will interact with the external field
and a force will appear. To understand dhow this force acts look carefully at the following
figure:

A, shows an electron moving away from your eyes as it passes through a magnetic field. In
B, the magnetic field of the electrons (the negative current) is shown. C shows the lines of
force of both the current and the magnet in a different way: the lines have been replaced
by small magnets drawn with the orientation they would show in each individual field. The
same situation as in C but with the lines of force properly drawn is depicted in D. As it is
explained in C, there is an upward force on the electron because of these interactions.
This force will not speed it up but will bend its path forcing the electron to “take a
turn”.

Force on a Wire Carrying a Current: The Motor Effect

This upward force is effectively applied to zillions of moving electrons in a wire that carries
a current. The electrons are confined in the wire and they will be pushed upwards. In fact,
the wire itself will move upwards! This effect is called the motor effect and is the basic
phenomenon that makes any electric motor move.

If a loop (instead of a straight current) is placed in the magnetic

field, the force will act on the incoming and the outgoing current
as shown in the figure (the coil is represented as a rectangle for
teaching reasons) making the loop turn! This effect can be
magnified if the loop is repeated again and again, that is using a
many-turn coil. The coil is connected to a split ring commutator
(a device to change the polarity of the current every half-turn)
otherwise the coil would just oscillate to and fro (think why) Commutators ensure that the
current flowing to the coil (also known as the rotor or the armature) is constantly reversing
so that the magnetic fields will never become aligned, and thus motion will remain
constant. As it has been said already, all electric motors (air conditioners, swimming pools
pumps, food processors, subway motors etc.).

Moving Wires and Loops in Magnetic Fields: The Generator Effect

Look carefully at the figure. If there is no current on a

conducting wire but we move it across the magnetic
field, the electrons in the wire will move because of the
wire’s movement. If the electrons move in the direction
shown, a force will appear on them (upward force)
pushing them up. An upward current of electrons has
been induced in the wire without any battery. We have
generated a potential difference (p.d.) with no cells or
batteries! This generator effect is the elementary process
through which we get electricity: hydroelectric, nuclear,
fuel operated power plants just use the mechanical,
nuclear or chemical energy to move coils inside
magnetic fields!

Electricity at Home

The electric network in our country is rated as “220V 50 Hz”. What does this mean? The
system distributes what is known as AC or alternate current. “Mains” is the general-
purpose alternating current (AC) electric power supply. The term is used in Britain; in the
United States common usage includes household power, domestic power, wall power, line
power and grid power.

In AC there are no positive and negative ends as we have studied up to this point. One of
the terminals in a socket is neutral and the other one has an oscillating voltage
sometimes higher and sometimes lower than the neutral. 220 V is the “average” potential
difference (called RMS-Voltage). Thus, the electrons do not move along the wires but
move to and fro as the voltage goes up and down. Nevertheless, energy moves along the
circuit as the energy of an oscillating rope goes from one end to the other without the
rope itself moving.

The 50 Hz (read hertz) show another important characteristic of an AC. It means that the
voltage and the current oscillate 50 times a second a property known as frequency (we will
come back to this in the next units).

Some further considerations about household electricity

Electric energy is a versatile, easy to use and easy to transport form of energy. Nevertheless
its use requires of some precautions to avoid hazardous situations.

Two parallel circuits are usually wired: one of the circuits for illumination purpose will
tolerate a current of 5 Amps maximum. The second one goes to the sockets to
connect home appliances and allows for 30 Amps currents maximum.
Fuses and circuit breakers should be used to control the current if it rises to dangerous
intensities. Most appliances have fuses; these are resistors with a low melting point
that will melt (fuse) if the temperature rises to an inconvenient value.
Grounding is a must for all appliances. Modern circuitry includes a “ground wire” all
along the house. The third pin of the plugs connects the appliance to this wire so
that any current leakage will be discharged through this wire and not the user’s
body
Never ever touch or use electric energy with wet hands or barefoot. These two things
lower your resistance to dangerous levels allowing lethal currents to flow through
your body. You can find some information at the end of the previous notes (Electric
Current)

QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS

1- Three identical iron rods are labelled A, B and C. If they are placed close to one
another A attracts C but has no effect on B. Which of them is a magnet?

2- Two identical iron rods attract each other: how would you know if both are
magnetised?

3- The magnetic lines of force of a magnet can be visualised spreading some iron filings
(or powder) close to it. How would the lines of force look around a bar magnet and
around a horse-shoe magnet? Sketch them.

4- What are the magnetic domains?

5- Which are the ferromagnetic materials?

6- Because of a helper’s mistake nickel and copper powders have been mixed in the same
pot. How would you separate both powders?
7- Does the Earth’s magnetic S Pole belong to the same class of a magnet’s S pole?

8- Explain the term “declination” as it is used in magnetism.

9- Connect the battery so that the polarity of the iron nail is as shown

10- Predict the polarity of the home – made electromagnets.