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DOMAINS
MAGNETIC FIELD
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LINES OF MAGNETIC FORCE

FERROMAGNETIC
MAGNET
POLE
He discovered that electric forces
obey the same inverse square law
Newton discovered

CHARLES COLOUMB
After Oersted discovered in 1820 that
electricity induced magnetism he
wrote a mathematical paper to
describe the behavior in one week.

Unit for measuring electric

current (A)
ANDRE MARIE AMPERE
Read many books as an
apprentice bookbinder and did
experiments in the shop.
His main discoveries include the
principles underlying
electromagnetic induction,
diamagnetism and electrolysis.
was a Danish physicist and
chemist who discovered that
electric currents create
magnetic fields, which was the
first connection found between
electricity and magnetism
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WHAT DO YOU THINK IS INDICATED BY THIS

PHENOMENON?
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WHAT DO YOU THINK IS INDICATED BY THIS

PHENOMENON?
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 MAKE YOUR OWN ELECTROMAGNET

Materials: large nail, copper wire, dry

cell and paper clips
 Number of staple wires
Voltage
No of turns
(battery)
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 average

10

20

30

40
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Spring 2008 26
IF THE DIRECTION OF THE CURRENT IS KNOWN, THE
DIRECTION OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD IS
PERPENDICULAR TO IT AND THE MAGNETIC FORCE
THAT IS PERPENDICULAR TO BOTH THE CURRENT
AND MAGNETIC FIELD CAN BE DETERMINED BY
APPLYING THE HAND RULES.
The right hand rule.
Magnetic field of a straight wire
NB: Here
field lines
are closed
loops.

Right hand screw rule, a.k.a. the ‘corkscrew’ or

‘pencil sharpener’ rule:
Place thumb in direction of current; fingers indicate direction of
the magnetic field.
the right hand rule, the direction of
the magnetic field follows the
direction of the right hand fingers
when the thumb points in the
direction of the conventional current
(positive to negative)
The left hand rule, the direction of
the magnetic field follows the
direction of the left hand fingers
when the thumb points in the
direction of the real current (from
negative to positive)
Magnetic field of a solenoid

N S

Right hand grip rule: Wrap fingers around solenoid in

direction of current; thumb indicates N pole.
THE MAGNETIC FIELD INCREASES IN DIRECT
PROPORTION TO THE NUMBER OF TURNS IN
COIL.

•THE END OF THE CURRENT-CARRYING

WIRE WHERE THE MAGNETIC LINES OF
INDUCTION COME OUT ACT AS THE
NORTH OF THE COIL.
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Note the similarity
Effect of the number of coils

According to Ampere's Law, the

strength of the magnetic field is directly
proportional to the number of coils;
doubling the number of coils doubles
the field strength.
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