Magnetic Field of a Solenoid A solenoid is a tightly wound helical coil of wire whose diameter is small compared to its length.

The magnetic field generated in the centre, or core, of a current carrying solenoid is essentially uniform, and is directed along the axis of the solenoid. Outside the solenoid, the magnetic field is far weaker. Figure 27 shows (rather schematically) the magnetic field generated by a typical solenoid. The solenoid is wound from a single helical wire which carries a current . The winding is sufficiently tight that each turn of the solenoid is well approximated as a circular wire loop, lying in the plane perpendicular to the axis of the solenoid, which carries a current . Suppose that there are such turns per unit axial length of the solenoid. What is the magnitude of the magnetic field in the core of the solenoid?

Figure 27: A solenoid. In order to answer this question, let us apply Ampre's circuital law to the rectangular loop . We must first find the line integral of the magnetic field around . Along and the magnetic field is essentially perpendicular to the loop, so there is no contribution to the line integral from these sections of the loop. Along the magnetic field is approximately uniform, of magnitude , say, and is directed parallel to the loop. Thus, the contribution to the line integral from this section of the loop is , where is the length of . Along the magnetic field-strength is essentially negligible, so this section of the loop makes no contribution to the line integral. It follows that the line integral of the magnetic field around is simply (178)

By Ampre's circuital law, this line integral is equal to times the algebraic sum of the currents which flow through the loop . Since the length of the loop along the axis of the solenoid is , the loop intersects turns of the solenoid, each carrying a current . Thus, the total current which flows through the loop is . This current counts as a positive current since if we look against the direction of the currents flowing in each turn (i.e., into the page in the figure), the loop circulates these currents in an anti-clockwise direction. Ampre's circuital law yields (179)

which reduces to (180)

Thus, the magnetic field in the core of a solenoid is directly proportional to the product of the current flowing around the solenoid and the number of turns per unit length of the solenoid. This, result is exact in the limit in which the length of the solenoid is very much greater than its diameter.

Factors Affecting The Strength Of An Electromagnet:

The strength of an electromagnet is: 1) Directly proportional to the number of turns in the coil. 2) Directly proportional to the current flowing in the coil. 3) Inversely proportional to the length of air gap between the poles.

In general, an electromagnet is often considered better than a permanent magnet because it can produce very strong magnetic fields and its strength can be controlled by varying the number of turns in its coil or by changing the current flowing through the coil. Magnetic Field Pattern Due To A Circular Coil Carrying Current

We know that when a current is passed through a straight wire, a magnetic field is produced around it. It has been found that the magnetic effect of current increases if, instead of using a straight wire, the wire is converted into a circular coil. A circular coil consists of twenty or more turns of insulated copper wire closely wound together. When a current is passed through a circular coil, a magnetic field is produced around it. The lines of force are circular near the wire, but they become straight and parallel

towards the middle point of the coil. In fact, each small segment of the coil is surrounded by such magnetic lines of force. At the center of the coil, all the lines of force aid each other due to which the strength of the magnetic field increases.

The magnitude of magnetic field produced by a current carrying wire at its center is:

1. Directly proportional to the current passing through the circular wire, and 2. Inversely proportional to the radius of the circular wire.

A current carrying circular wire (or coil) behaves as a thin disc magnet, whose one face is a north pole and the other face is a south pole.

The strength of magnetic field produced by a current carrying circular coil can be increased

1. By increasing the number of turns of wire in the coil 2. By increasing the current flowing through the coil 3. By decreasing the radius of the coil.

Solenoids

The solenoid is a long coil containing a large number of close turns of insulated copper wire. The magnetic field produced by a current carrying solenoid is similar to the magnetic field produced by a bar magnet. The lines of magnetic force pass through the solenoid and return to the other end. If a current carrying solenoid is suspended freely, it comes to rest pointing North and South like a suspended magnetic needle. One end of the solenoid acts like a N-pole and the other end a S-pole. Since the current in each circular turn of the solenoid flows in the same direction, the magnetic field produced by each turn of the solenoid adds up, giving a strong resultant magnetic field inside the solenoid. A solenoid is used for making electromagnets.

The strength of magnetic field produced by a current carrying solenoid is:

1. Directly proportional to the number of turns in the solenoid 2. Directly proportional to the strength of current in the solenoid 3. Dependent on the nature of "core material" used in making the solenoid. The use of soft iron rod as core in a solenoid produces the strongest magnetism.

Coil size: radius

The magnetic induction at the center of one extreme of a long solenoid with jointing windings is:

The force of the magnet will be proportional to the energy stored in the magnetic field:

Note that the expressions on the right are only true for a solenoid with l > r. From the equation above we see that the energy is proportional to the radius squared, indicating that the bigger the radius, the bigger the energy. But we have a given length of magnet wire and the larger the radius the smaller number of turns. Actually:

And replacing N in the energy equation:

As we see, the radius squared in the numerator cancels out the radius squared in the denominator. Conclusion: Given the limited length of magnet wire, the field energy, and hence the strength of the magnet, is fairly independent of the radius of the coil. A round shape is preferred because it gives the maximum cross section with the minimum perimeter.

Coil size: length

We see in the equation for the energy that the coil length is in the denominator and this can wrongly lead us to think that the shorter the coil the better. But remember the approximation that we made in the energy calculation about the coil being much longer than its diameter. If we refer to the first part of the energy equation we see that it is proportional to the magnetic induction B. Therefore, we must size our coil to maximize B. In the expression for B on the last page we see that the length l is in the denominator, but this length defines also the angle . For l very small and increasing, will grow proportionally to l, canceling the effect of the coil length in the denominator. As goes above about 45 degrees, the cosine will increase more slowly, and B will decrease. It is difficult to analytically evaluate these factors. Here is where magnetic design becomes and art. A finite element model will allow changing the length to radius ratio and observe where the maximum in energy is. As a rule of thumb I would suggest to try to pack the coil in a length about once to twice the radius and see what produces the higher strength. (At l = r the field intensity is still 70% of the maximum.) Packing the coil in more that one layer will increase the effective diameter of the coil, but will increase the turns per unit length.

A particle carrying a charge of 1 coulomb and passing through a magnetic field of 1 tesla at a speed of 1 meter per second experiences a force of 1 newton, according to the Lorentz force law. As an SI derived unit, the tesla can also be expressed as