ELECTRO

MAGNETISM

Introduction
Every Electric charge has an electromagnetic field around it
The Electric part of that field is always present.
Take for instance a point charge q.
The magnetic field only appears if relative motion is present.
This means either the charge or the observer is moving.

Magnetic Fields
The electric field was denoted with an
The magnetic field is denoted with a

Magnetic fields have magnitude, direction and units.

We will define each of these in greater detail soon!

Magnetic Fields
We Now Know

Do charges in magnetic
fields experience magnetic
forces?

Which

Moving
Charge

Produces

Magnetic
Fields

Produces

Yes, provided two conditions

are met

Magnetic
Forces

Conditions for Magnetic Force

The charge is moving
The velocity of the moving charge must have a component that
is perpendicular to the magnetic field.
Recall magnetic field lines point in the direction a magnets
north seeking pole would orient itself.

Occurrence of force
Lets examine a point charge +q
When
is
anti-parallel
to B,
is no
force.
If
If vv moves
is vitparallel
perpendicular
to B, there
to
is isthere
no
B,no
there
force
is the
maximum possible force
When
isnt
moving,
there
force

+q

Occurrence of force
Lets examine a point charge +q when it moves at an angle.

Sin()
Sin()

+q

Notice how the

closer the angle is
to the
perpendicular,
greater the
magnitude

Example:
For which velocity would the charge experience a greater force. The
length of the arrow illustrates the magnitude of the speed in that
direction.

+q

Magnetic Fields
We now can tell that the velocity and the direction (sin()) will
be necessary to describe the force a charge feels in a
magnetic field.

F =
m
F .
We define B = qv sin()
Recall: g =

Where:
B = Magnitude of the magnetic field
F = Magnetic force on q
q = charge (magnitude)
v = velocity
= angle between v and B

F
q
Who is the unit
of the magnetic
field named
after?

Magnetic Forces
Rearranging we can find
F = qvBsin()
Now we have the magnitude of the Magnetic force, we just need to
find the direction
We will use a tool we are very familiar with to determine the
direction of the force
Our right hand!

Direction of F
Right Hand Rule:
Thumb points in the direction of V
Fingers Points in the direction of B
Palm Direction of the resulting F

But wait Would a positive

charge experience a force in the
same direction as a negative
charge?

Direction of F
Slap Positive charges and backhand the
negative ones!
Thumb

points in the direction of V

Fingers Points in the direction of B

Palm/backhand Direction of the
resulting F (+/-)

One last thing!

These types of questions are 3D
But paper is 2D
It is convention to orientate the magnetic field towards or away from the paper, this
way the velocity and force run along the plane of the paper.
We use two symbols to describe this. (out of the page) and (into the page)

+q
B

+q

Example
Find the force acting on the given charge.

v = 4.0 x 106 m/s

B = 0.25 T
q = 1.6 x 10-19 c

Example
Find the force acting a charge of 1.6 x 10-19 c moving at a speed
of 4.0 x 106 m/s into the page in a magnetic field of strength
0.25 T.

Example
Find the charge of a particle moving at a speed 2.3 x 107 m/s
[N] through a magnetic field of strength 0.20 T oriented toward
the ground experiencing a force of 1.472 x 10-12 N [W]

v
F

The End
Homework worksheet 1