SourceofMagneticFieldsandMagnetisminMaterials

I.

MagneticFieldduetoaCurrent

A. Wevenowtalkedalotabouthowmovingchargesaswellascurrentswillfeelaforceinthe
presenceofamagneticfield.Buthowaremagneticfieldscreatedanyway?

1. Wementionedatthebeginningoftheprevioussectionofnotesthattheonlythingthat
cancreateamagneticfield(atleastuntillaterinthesemester)isamovingcharge.

2. Socurrentsactuallyalsocreatemagneticfieldssincetheyarejustmanymovingcharges.

3. Thepropertiesofmagneticfieldscreatedbycurrentsareveryinteresting,butwellstart
withasimplecaseofasinglewirecarryingaconstantcurrent.

4. Inthatcase,firsttodeterminethedirectionofthemagneticfieldcreated,weuseyet
anotherrighthandrule(RHR).ThisistheRHRforthemagneticfieldduetocurrents:

5. Pointyourthumbinthedirectionofthecurrent(mustuseyourrighthand!),thencurl
yourfingersaroundyourthumbandyourfingersrepresentthemagneticfielddirection.
Seethefigurebelowtogetabettersenseofit.

6. Thisisaninterestingresult:eventhoughthecurrentisstraight,itproducesamagnetic
fieldthatwrapsaroundthecurrentinacircularmanner.

7. Asfarasmagnitudeisconcerned,wecantalkaboutthestrengthofmagneticfieldsfora
coupleparticularcases.Thefirstisforalong,straightwirecarryingaconstantcurrent:
,where isthecurrentand isthedistancefromthewire.

isanewconstant

calledthepermeabilityoffreespace,essentiallyameasureofhowfreespace(vacuum)
4 10
/
respondstomagneticeffects.

8. Fromthisequationitisclearthatasthecurrentmagnitudeincreases,sodoesthe
magneticfield(seemsreasonable),andalsothattheeffectofdistanceisonlyaninverse
relationship(1/r,not1/r2or1/r3).

9. Thesecondcasewecanlookatisforaspecialgeometrycalledasolenoid.Asolenoidis
justmanywindings(usuallycircular,butnotalways)ofasinglewiresothatmanycurrent
loopsarestackedrightnexttoeachotherandsometimesalsoontopofeachother.See
thefigurebelow:

10. Eachloophasthesamecurrentflowinginit(theyareallfromthesamepieceofwire),so
theyallproducethesamemagneticfieldinthesamedirection.Thekeyisthattheywillall
addtogethertomakeaverystrongmagneticfieldontheinsideofthesolenoid(asshown
inthefigure).

11. Foranidealsolenoid,meaningonethatisverylong,themagneticfieldontheoutsideis
essentially=0,orisatleastverysmallcomparedtothatontheinside.

12. Youcanonlyhavetwopossibledirectionsforthemagneticfieldinsideasolenoid:itwill
alwaysbealongthelengthofthesolenoid,justeithertotherightortotheleft.To
determinethedirection,useyetanotherrighthandrule(!):Curlthefingersofyourright
handinthedirectionofthecurrentflowingintheloops,thenyourthumbpointsinthe
directionofthemagneticfield(asseeninthefigureabove:B=totheleft(xdirection).

13. Thepurposeofcreatingasolenoidgeometryistogetaverystrongmagneticfieldstrength
foragivencurrentflowinginasinglepieceofwire.

14. Theformulaforthemagnitudeofthemagneticfieldofasolenoidisasfollows:
. isthenumberofturns,i.e.thenumberofwindingsthesolenoidhas
(thenumberofcurrentloops).

15. Thisexpressionworksevenforrealsolenoidsofagivenlength ,butitisstillan

approximationifthesolenoidisntverylongorinfinitelylong.Sooftenyoullseethe
secondversioninsteadwhichuses
/ ,ortheturnsperunitlength.

16. Anothergeometrywecanhaveforacurrentproducingamagneticfieldisashort,straight
wire.Inthiscasewecannotignoretheeffectsoftheendsofthewirebecausethewireis
notlong.Soitbecomesimportanttobeabletoincludehowthepointofinterest
comparestothetwoendsofthewire:itmaynotbethesamedistancefromeachendof
thewire:

TheendresultcanonlybecalculatedusingtheBiotSavartLaw,andisasfollows:

sin

sin

Oneanglewillbepositiveandonewillbenegativesincetheyarebothreferenced
fromthepoint.Foralongwirethetwoanglesapproach90inmagnitudeandthis
formulabecomesthesameasforalongwire.
17. Ifweinsteadbendthewireintoacircularshape,themagneticfieldatthecenterofthe
circle(orring,orcurrentloop)willbe:
II.

AmperesLaw

A. CalculatingmagneticfieldswiththeBiotSavartLawisnoteasyinmanycases.Somuch
likewithGausssLawforcalculatingelectricfields,wecanuseAmperesLawtocalculate
magneticfieldsincertainhighsymmetrysituations.

1. AmperesLawsimplysaysthattheonlythingthatcancreatemagneticfieldsiscurrent,
sotheremustbearelationshipbetweenthetwo:

III.

2. TouseAmperesLawdothefollowing:

a. Chooseasurfacetoenclosethecurrentthatisproducingthemagneticfield.
b. Thendrawthesurfacesuchthatthepatharoundtheedgeofthesurfacehasthe
samedirectionasthemagneticfieldthismakestheleftsideofAmperesLaw
becomeverysimpleandthedotproductgoesaway.
c. Asanexample,foralong,straightwirethemagneticfieldcirclesaroundthewire,
soanappropriatesurfaceisacircledrawnaroundthewirewitharadiusatthe
distancewherethemagneticfieldistobecalculated

MagnetisminMaterials:Paramagnetism,Diamagnetism,andFerromagnetism
A. Believeitornot,everysinglekindofmaterialthereishasatleastsomelevelofmagnetic
propertiesmeaningitcanproduceamagneticfieldorinteractwithmagneticfields(or
both).

1. Wetypicallyonlythinkofmaterialswithmagneticpropertiesasthosethatobviouslyreact
tomagnets,orareactuallymagnetsontheirown.Forsure,thosekindsofmaterials
definitelyhavemagneticpropertiesandtheyfallintothethirdclass:ferromagnetic
materials.

2. ButALLmaterialshavesomemagneticbehavior.Theothertwokindsareparamagnetism
anddiamagnetism.Theybothonlyshowup,orbecomemeasurableandusefulwhen
themagneticfieldsmaterialsinteractwithareverystrong.

3. SmallermagneticfieldslikethatduetotheEarthandthoseassociatedwithsmall
permanentmagnetsarenotstrongenoughtoshowparamagnetismordiamagnetisminan
obviousway.

4. Paramagnetismcomesfromthefactthatelectrons,whicharecharges,tendtospin
aroundanaxisastheyorbitthenucleusofanatom(justliketheEarthspinsonitsaxisasit
orbitstheSun).Thisspinningmotionproducesacurrent(currentisjustamoving
charge),whichadmittedlyisaverysmallcurrent,butanycurrentproducesamagnetic
field.Sospinningelectronsproduceasmallmagneticfield.

5. Wecanalsomodelthisspinningelectronasamagneticdipole,meaningaNorthandSouth
pole,andwhenyouconsiderthatanyrealmaterialismadeofmany,manyelectrons

(atoms),allthesesmalldipolescaninteractwithamagneticfield(anexternalone)to
produceanoverallmagneticbehaviorthisisparamagnetism.

6. Onethingweneedtoqualifythough:whenconsideringanindividualelement,sayfor
exampleAluminum,howmanyelectronsdoesAlhave?Ithas13,anoddnumber.That
meansitwillhave12electronsthatarepairedupwithrespecttotheirspin,butone
remainingthatisnotpairedup.

7. Thepairedupspinsoffseteachother:oneelectronspinsinonedirection,theother
electronspinsintheoppositedirection,sotheiroverallmagneticdipolecontributionadds
tobecome=0.

8. Buttheunpairedelectronsmagneticdipolecontributionremains,soAlcanhave
paramagneticbehavior.Asageneralrule,elementswithanoddnumberofelectronswill
beparamagnetic.Elementswithanevennumberofelectronswillnotbeparamagnetic.

9. Diamagnetismcomesfromadifferenteffectoftheelectronsmotioninsideanatom.
Electronsalsoorbitthenucleus,sothisisalsoamovingchargeandwillalsoproducea
smallcurrent.Theorbitingelectroncreatesitsowneffectofamagneticdipole.

10. Inthiscase,thetinymagneticfieldscreatedbytheorbitingelectronswillactuallyinteract
withexternalmagneticfieldsinarepulsiveway,notanattractiveway.Bythatwemean,
themagneticdipolescreatedbytheorbitingelectronswillalignoppositetoanyexternal
magneticfield.

11. Sinceallatomshaveorbitingelectrons,essentiallyallelementsofferthepossibilityfor
diamagnetism.However,itisvery,veryweak,soifanelementhasanoddnumberof
electronsandthereforewillbeparamagnetic,thiswilldominateanddiamagnetismwill
notshowup.

12. Somematerialsarestronglydiamagneticthoughandcanbemadetolevitateinan
externalmagneticfieldduetotherepulsiveeffectofdiamagnetism.Also,livingthingscan
bemadetolevitateinVERYstrongmagneticfields(likearound15Torso)duetothe
diamagneticeffectfinallyshowinglargescalepropertiesforsuchlargemagneticfields(see
thelevitatingfroginyourtextbook!).

13. Ferromagnetismisthefinalclassofmagneticbehavior.Thisisbyfarthemostfamiliar
formandtheonethatweseeanddealwithinoureverydaylives.

14. Ferromagnetismisalsorelatedtoelectronspin,butthistimeweareinterestedin
elementsthathaveseveralunpairedelectronsallwiththesamespin.ExamplesincludeFe,
Co,NiandrareearthelementslikeNd(neodymium).Alloftheseelementshaveseveral
unpairedelectronsthatallhavethesamespin.

15. Theseunpairedspinstendtoaligntogether,evenwithoutanyexternalmagneticfieldto
changetheirorientation.Sincetherearesomanyunpairedelectronswiththesamespin
andtheytendtoaligntogether,theycanadduponthelargescaletoproducestrong
magneticpropertiesandinteractions.

16. Thekeyingredientthatexplainswhysuchferromagneticmaterialsreacttoexternal
magneticfieldsandcanbemadetoproducetheirownverystrongmagneticfieldsisthe
conceptofferromagneticdomains.

17. Ifwecouldlookatapieceofferromagneticmaterialonthevery,verysmallscale,we
wouldfindthatalloftheirtinymagneticdipoleswerealignedinthesamedirectiondue
toeachatomhavingseveralunpairedelectronswithrespecttospin.BUTthereisafurther
qualification

18. Ifwezoomedoutalittlebitfromthisvery,verysmallscale,wewouldactuallyfindthat
thereweresectionsofthematerialthatweredifferentandwererepresentedbydistinct
borders.Wecalltheseseparateregionsdomains.

19. Thedomainsexistbecauseinanyrealmaterial,particularlyferromagneticmaterialswhich
areusuallycrystallinesolidsmadeofatomsthatcometogetherinaveryrepeatableand
crystallinestructure,therearemanyindividualcrystalsthatstacktogetherandmeetat
boundariestomakethefullsizematerial.Itisdifficulttomakearealsizedmaterialthatis
asinglecrystalmeaningittrulyisasinglerepetitivecrystalthroughoutwithoutany
boundarieswheretwocrystalscometogether.

20. Thesesmallcrystalscomingtogetheratboundariesrepresentthedomains.Eachindividual
domainhasallofitsmagneticdipolesalignedtogether.BUTifwelookatmanydomainsall
atonce,wewillfindthatoveralltheytendtobealignedinaveryrandomway(seepicture
above).Soonthelargescale,undermostconditions,theoverallmagneticeffectof
ferromagneticmaterialsisnotstrongbecausethedomainsarequiterandomintheir
direction.

21. Thekeyideacomeswhensuchferromagneticmaterialsinteractwithanexternalmagnetic
field.Ofcourse,themagneticdipoles(andthenbyextensionthemagneticdomains)will
interactwiththismagneticfield,andtheywillinfactveryeasilyalignalltogetherinthe
samedirection.

22. SonowweDOhaveaverystrongmagneticeffectonthelargescalebecauseallofthetiny
magneticdipolesareinfactalignedinthesamedirection.Theferromagneticmaterialhas
becomelikeamagnet.

23. Theferromagneticmaterialwillstaythiswaysolongasitisintheexternalmagneticfield.
Butifitisremovedfromthemagneticfield,theindividualdomainswillgoback(forthe
mostpart)totheiroriginalorientationandtheoverallmagneticpropertiesarelost.A
magneticfieldcaneasilymovethedomains,butthedomainswillthengobackoncethe
magneticfieldisremoved.

24. Thisistrueforanyferromagneticmaterial,butweDOhavetwodistinctclassesof
ferromagneticmaterials:

a. Thefirstclassarecalledsoftferromagneticmaterials.Thoseinthisgroupreact
exactlyasdescribedabovein2123.Theycanbeaffectedbyanexternalmagnetic
field,butifitisremovedthedomainsmostlygobackandits(permanent)magnetic
propertiesarelost.Fe(iron)isthebestexampleofasoftferromagneticmaterial.

b. Thesecondclassarecalledhardferromagneticmaterials.Theserespondmuchthe
sameasin21and22above,butoncetheexternalmagneticfieldisremoved,the
domainsactuallystayprettymuchliketheywere.TheydoNOTtendtogobacktoa
randomorientation.

c. SopermanentmagnetslikeCo,Ni,andNdareallexamplesofhardferromagnetic
materials.

d. Theydontactuallyexistaspermanentmagnetsontheirown(naturally).Tomake
thembecomepermanentmagnets,theymustfirstbeplacedinaverystrongmagnetic
fieldtoalignalltheirdomains,andthenthosedomainswillmostlystayandyouhavea
permanentmagneticpropertyofthematerial.