25/3/2017 electromagnetismHowisenergystoredinmagneticandelectricfields?

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Howisenergystoredinmagneticandelectricfields?

Wesaythatthereisenergyassociatedwithelectricandmagneticfields.Forexample,inthecaseofaninductor,wegiveavagueanswer
sayingthatanenergyof LI isstoredinthemagneticfieldaroundtheinductor.
1

2
2

Foracapacitor,wesaythatenergyisstoredinthefield.Thisisunderstandableastheelectricfieldistryingtocombiningthechargesonthe
platesbutthereexistsaphysicalbarrierseparating.Inotherwords,Icansaythattheenergyisstoredastheelectricpotentialenergyofthe
chargesinthetwoplates.

Whatdoesitmeantosaythatthereisenergyassociatedwithaninductor'smagneticfields?Therearen'tmagneticmonopoleswhichare
storingmagneticpotentialenergy,buttherecouldbemagneticdipoleswhicharestoringtheenergy?

Maybetherearephotonspartyingaroundinthefieldcarryingenergy(IamnotseriousaboutthiscommentbutIamgivinganideawhat
kindofanswerIamexpecting).

Inmyopinion,thisisnotaduplicate.Answerstosimilarquestionsstatethatworkisdonebythecurrentmovinginthecircuitwhich
getsstoredinthefields.Iunderstandthat.Thisquestionaskshowtheenergyisstoredinthefields,notwhereitcomesfrom.

electromagnetism energy magneticfields electricfields potentialenergy

editedFeb13at15:19 askedFeb13at14:37
YashasSamaga
4,112 17 40

3 I'mnotsurethisisameaningfulquestion"how"doesanything"store"anyformofenergy?Sure,abatteryhasa
chemicalsinitandwesaythatenergyisstoredintheconfigurationofthechemicals,but"how"dotheydothat?
(WhatI'mtryingtogetatisthatthisisa"bottomlesswhy"questionindisguise.Atsomepoint,allphysicaltheories
breakthepotentiallyeternalcycleof"WhyisXlikethat?""BecauseY""WhyisYlikethat?"...bysaying"that'sjust
thewayitis".) ACuriousMind Feb13at14:42

Duplicateofelectronics.stackexchange.com/q/161457/2191(differentQ&Asite)whichrefersto
physicsforums.com/threads/energystoredinafield.74340whichhasaniceanswerbyjtbellRedGrittyBrickFeb
13at14:49

@RedGrittyBrickThatanswerexplainswheretheenergycomesfrom,nothowitisstored.Maybemyquestionhasno
answerasACuriousMindstated.Iwentthroughover1015questionsbeforeasking.Iftherewasananswer,someone
wouldhaveanswereditbynow.Thephysicsforumanswerdoeshelp. YashasSamaga Feb13at14:53

Oops,typo,theelectricfieldistryingtobringthemtogetherbutitisnotabletothereforethereisnegativeenergy
associatedwithit.Fixed.Thanksforpointingout. YashasSamaga Feb13at15:18

Thepointis,youshouldn'tthinkoftheelectrostaticenergybeingcontainedinthechargedparticles.Youshouldthink
ofitasbeingcontainedinthefieldalso.Otherwiseitgetshardtounderstandhowtheelectricfieldfromsome
particlesinthesun,that'sbeentravelingfor8minutes(andthustheoriginalparticleshavelikelychanged
configurationinthemeantime),candepositenergyinthechemicalsinyoureyetoletyouseethings.ThePhoton
Feb13at16:50

2Answers

Thisisaqualitativeanswer:

Theunderlyinglevelofnatureisquantummechanical.Theclassicalconcepts,likeelectricand
magneticfields,risefromthisunderlyinglevel.

Takeachargedcapacitor.Allthenegativechargesareononefaceandallthepositiveonthe
otherandthereexistsaclassicalelectricfieldbetweentheplateswhichhasenergy.Thisenergy
isthepotentialenergywhichseparatesthequantummechanicalcharges,electronshavebeen
movedfromonesidetotheotherandionswerecreated,andtheenergystoredcomesfromthis
operation.

Ifonetakesanelectronbyitself,thereisacharge,andanelectricfieldassociated
mathematicallywiththatcharge,butthereisnoenergytobetakenorgiventothesingle

http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/311887/howisenergystoredinmagneticandelectricfields 1/2
25/3/2017 electromagnetismHowisenergystoredinmagneticandelectricfields?PhysicsStackExchange
electronbecausethechargeisintrinsic.Thusthehowofensembleswhichgiveelectricfields
,endsuptothebasicquestionatthelevelofasingleelectrongettingtheanswer"becausethat
iswhathasbeenobserved".

Thisalwayshappenswithphysicsbecauseitisasciencethatusesmathematicstofit
observations,andtherearebasicobservationsthatareassumed.Particlephysicshascodified
theminstandardmodelparticletable.Soonecananswerthisquestionsequentially,peeling
theonionofcomplexity,untilonereachesthebasicmeasuredfacts.

Amorecomplicatedargumentcanbemadeforthemagneticfield,(onehastousetheconcept
ofmovingcharges,anobservation)andintheendtheanswertothelasthowwillagainendin
thestandardmodeltable.

answeredFeb13at18:14
annav
116k 5 99 343

Theseparationofchargesforcapacitorsyouexplainedbyyourself.Ihastoexplainthestorage
ofenergyininductorcoilsonly.

Whatdoesitmeantosaythatthereisenergyassociatedwithaninductor'smagneticfields?

EveryelectronhasamagneticdipolemomentThismomentsinmostthematerialsisequally
distributedinspaceforalltheelectronsandcanceleachotherout.(Notsoformagnetic
materials).

Movingelectronsonacurvedpathinducingacommonmagneticfield.Thishappensbythe
alignmentoftheirmagneticdipolemoments.BythistheOhmresistanceofacoilishigheras
theresistanceofastraightwireofthesamelength.Switchingoffthecurrentthroughacoilthe
electronsalignmentgetslostagainandacurrentisinducedforawhile.(Theelectronsget
disturbedbythethermicmovementoftheatoms.Inultraoldcoilsthisispreventedandthe
electronsalignmentoftheirmagneticdipolemomentsisselfholding.)

answeredFeb14at6:00
HolgerFiedler
2,157 2 7 21

Oneisnotabletocontributeenergyfromthemagneticfieldoftheinductor.SoforexampletheLorentzforce(moving
electronsgetdeflectedundertheinfluenceofamagneticfield)doesnotweakenthemagneticfield.HolgerFiedler
Feb14at6:05

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