The Magnetic Field

A magnetic field is vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric
currents and magnetic materials.
The north and south poles of a magnet are the points of concentration of magnetic strength. The
practical effects of these ferromagnetism result from the magnetic field of force between two poles at
opposite ends of the magnet. Although the magnetic field is invisible, evidence of its force can be seen
when small irons fillings are sprinkled on a glass or paper sheet placed over the magnet. Each iron filling
becomes a small bar magnet. If the sheet is tapped gently to overcome friction so that the fillings can
move, they become aligned by the magnetic field.

Field Lines The magnet can be considered as a generator for an external magnetic field, provided by
the two opposite magnetic poles at the ends. This idea corresponds to the two terminals of the battery
as the source for an external electric field provided by opposite charges.
Magnetic field lines are unaffected by nonmagnetic materials such as air, vacuum, paper, glass,
wood or plastics. When these materials are placed in the magnetic field of a magnet, the field lines are
the same as though the material were not there.
However, the magnetic field lines become concentrated when a magnetic substance like iron is
placed in the field inside the iron, the field lines are more dense, compared with the field in air.

Magnetic Flux

The entire group of magnetic field lines, which can be considered to flow outward from the north pole
of a magnet, is called a magnetic flux. A strong magnetic field has more lines of force and more flux than
a weak magnetic field.

The Maxwell One maxwell (Mx) unit equals one magnetic field line. In the figure below, the flux is
10 Mx because there are 10 field lines flowing in or out for each pole. A 1-lb magnet can provide a
magnetic flux of about 5000 Mx. This unit is named for James Clerk Maxwell (1831 – 1879), an important
Scottish mathematical physicist who contributed much to electrical and field theory.

The Weber This is the larger unit of magnetic flux. One weber (Wb) equals 1 x 108 lines or maxwells.
Since the weber is a larger unit for typical fields, the microweber unit can be used. Then 1
μWb=1× 10−6 Wb. This unit is named for Wilhelm Weber (1804 – 1890), a German physicist.

Example
a. Convert 4.5 Wb of flux to Mx.
b. Convert a flux φ of 15,000 Mx to Wb units.
Flux Density

The flux density is the number of magnetic field lines per unit area of a section perpendicular to the
direction of the flux.

ɸ
B=
A

where ɸ is the flux through an area A, and a flux density B.

The Gauss The gauss (G) is a cgs unit for flux density. The unit is one magnetic-field line per square
centimeter or 1 Mx/cm2. In Fig 1, the point X, the flux-line density is 3 lines per square centimeter,
or 3 G.
As an example of the flux density, B for 1-lb magnet would be 1000 G at the poles. This unit is
named for Karl F. Gauss (1777 – 1855), a German mathematician.

Example
With a flux of 10,000 Mx through a perpendicular area of 5 cm square, what is the flux density in gauss?

The Tesla In SI, the unit of flux density B is weber per square meter ( Wb /m 2) . One weber per square
meter is called a tesla., abbreviate T. This unit is named for Nikola Tesla (1857 – 1943), a Yugoslav-born
American inventor in electricity and magnetism.

Example 2
With the flux of 400 μWb through an area of 0.0005 m2, what is the flux density B in tesla units?

Example 3
a. Convert a flux density B of 25 kG to T units.
b. Convert a flux density B of 0.025 T to G units

Induction by the Magnetic Field

The electric or magnetic effect of one body on another without any physical contact between them is
called induction. For instance, a permanent magnet can induce an unmagnetized iron bar to become a
magnet, without the two touching. The magnetized iron bar then has magnetic poles at the ends, as a
result of the magnetic induction.
 Note that the induced poles in the iron have opposite polarity from the poles of the magnet. Since
opposite poles attract, the iron bar will be attracted. Any magnet attracts to itself all magnetic materials
by induction.
Although the two bars are not touching, the iron bar is in the magnetic flux of the permanent
magnet. It is the invisible magnetic field that links the two magnets, enabling one to affects the other.
Actually this idea of magnetic flux extending outward from the magnetic poles is the basis for many
inductive effects in ac circuits. More generally, the magnetic field between magnetic poles and the
electric field between electric charges form the basis for wireless radio transmission and reception.

Relative Permeability Soft iron, as an example, is very effective in concentrating magnetic field lines,
by induction in the iron. This ability to concentrate magnetic flux is called permeability. Any material
that is easily magnetized has high permeability, therefore, as the field lines are concentrated because of
induction.
Numerical values of permeability for different materials compared with air or vacuum can be
assigned. For example, if the flux density in air is 1 G but an iron core in the same position in the same
field has a flux density of 200 G, the relative permeability of the iron core equals 200/1 or 200.

Types of Magnet

The two broad classes are permanent magnets and electromagnets. An electromagnet needs current
from an external source to maintain its magnetic field. With a permanent magnet, not only is its
magnetic field present without any external current, but the magnet can maintain its strength
indefinitely.

Electromagnets Current in a wire conductor has an associated magnetic field. If the wire is wrapped in
the form of a coil, the current and its magnetic field become concentrated in a smaller space, resulting in
a strong field. With the length much greater than its width, the coil is called a solenoid. It acts like a bar
magnet, with opposite poles at end.
More current and more turns make a stronger magnetic field. Also, the iron core concentrates
magnetic lines inside the coil. Soft iron is generally used for the core because it is easily magnetized.
The coil in the figure with the switch closed and the current in the coil, is an electromagnet that can
pick up the magnetic material. If the switch is opened, magnetic field is reduced to zero, and any
magnetic material that attracted will drop off. This ability of an electromagnet to provide a strong
magnetic force of attraction that can be turned on or off easily has many applications in lifting magnets,
buzzers, bells, or chimes, and relays. A relay is a switch with contacts that are opened or closed by an
electromagnet.
Another common application is magnetic tape recording. The tape is coated with fine particles of
iron oxide. The recording head is a coil that produces a magnetic field in proportion to the current. As
the tape passes through the air gap of the head, small areas of the coating become magnetized by
induction. On playback, the moving magnetic tape produces variations in electric current.

Permanent Magnet These are made of hard magnetic materials, such as cobalt steel, magnetized by
induction in the manufacturing process. A very strong field is needed for induction in these materials.
When the magnetizing field is removed, however, residual induction makes the material a permanent
magnet. A common permanent magnet material is alnico, a commercial alloy of aluminum, nickel, and
iron, with cobalt, copper, and titanium added to produce about 12 grades. The Alnico V grade is often
used for permanent magnet loudspeakers. In this application, a typical size of PM slug for a steady
magnetic field is a few ounces to about 5 lb, with a flux of 500 to 25,000 lines or maxwells. One
advantage of a PM loudspeaker is that only two connecting leads are needed for the voice coil, as the
steady magnetic field of the PM slug is obtained without any field-coil winding.
Commercial permanent magnets will last indefinitely if they are not subjected to high
temperatures, to physical shock, or to a strong demagnetizing field. If the magnet becomes hot,
however, the molecular structure can be rearranged, resulting in loss of magnetism that is not
recovered after cooling. The point at which a magnetic material losses its ferromagnetic properties is the
Curie temperature. For iron, this temperature is about 800 ℃ , when the relative permeability drops to
unity. A permanent magnet does not become exhausted with use, as its magnetic properties are
determined by the structure of the internal atoms and molecules.

Classification of Magnetic Materials When we consider materials simply as either magnetic or

1. Ferromagnetic materials. These include iron, steel, nickel, cobalt, and commercial alloys
such as alnico and Permalloy. They become strongly magnetized in the same direction as
the magnetizing field, with high values of permeability from 50 to 5000.
2. Paramagnetic materials. These include aluminum, platinum, manganese, and chromium.
The permeability is slightly more than 1. They become weakly magnetized in the same
direction as the magnetizing field.
3. Diamagnetic materials. These include bismuth, antimony, copper, zinc, mercury, gold, and
silver. The permeability is less than 1.

Ferrites

This is the name for nonmetallic materials that have the ferromagnetic properties of iron. The ferrites
have very high permeability, like iron. However, a ferrite is a nonconducting ceramic material, while iron
is a conductor. The permeability of ferrite is in the range of 50 to 3000. The specific resistance is 10 3 𝝮•
m, which makes the ferrite an insulator.
A common application is a ferrite core, usually adjustable, in the coils for RF transformers. The
ferrite core is much more efficient than iron when the current alternate in high frequency. The reason is
that less I2R power is lost by eddy currents in the core because of its very high resistance.
A ferrite core is used in small coils and transformers for signal frequencies up to 20 MHz,
approximately. The high permeability means the transformer can be very small. However, the ferrites
are easily saturated at low values of magnetizing current. This disadvantage means the ferrites are not
used for power transformer.
The Magnetomotive Force (mmf)

With a coil magnet, the strength of the magnetic field depends on how much current flows in the turns
of the coil. The more current, the stronger the magnetic field. Also, more turns in a specific length
concentrate the field. The coil serves as a bar magnet, with opposite poles at the ends, providing a
magnetic field proportional to the ampere-turns. As a formula,

mmf =N × I

The quantity ¿ specifies the amount of magnetizing force or magnetic potential, which is the
magnetomotive force (mmf)
The MKS unit is ampere-turn ( A •t ), The cgs unit of mmf is gilbert. Abbreviated by Gb. One ampere-
turn equals 1.26 Gb. The number 1.26 is approximately 4 π /10 , derived from the surface of a sphere,
which is 4 πr 2 .

1 A • t = 1.26 Gb

Example
a. Convert 18.9 Gb to A • t

b. Convert 2850 A • t to Gb

c. A coil with 900 turns must produce 360 A • t of mmf. How much current is necessary?

Field Intensity

The ampere-turns of mmf specify the magnetizing force, but the intensity of the magnetic field depends
on how long the coil is. At any point in space, a specific value of ampere-turn must produce less field
intensity for a long coil than for a short coil that concentrates the same mmf. Specifically , the field
intensity in MKS units is

mmf
H=
l

This formula is for a solenoid. The field intensity is at the center of an air core. With an iron core, H is the
intensity through the entire core. By means of units for H , the magnetic field of intensity can be
specified for either electromagnets or permanent magnets , since both provide the same kind of
magnetic field. The length in formula above is between poles.
Units for H The field intensity is basically mmf per unit of length. In practical units, H is ampere –turns
per meter. The cgs unit for H is the oersted (Oe).

Example
1. Convert 1.25 ( A ∙ t)/m to Oe

2. Convert 215 Oe to ( A ∙ t)/m

Permeability ( μ )

The permeability of a material describes its ability to concentrate a magnetic-flux field. A good magnetic
material with high relative permeability can concentrate magnetic flux and produce a large value of flux
density B for a specified H. These factors are related as follows.

B
μ=
H

For SI units, B is in tesla, H is in A•t/m.

In SI units, the permeability of air or vacuum is 1.26 ×10−6. The symbol is μ0. To find μ when μr is
known, we must multiply μr by 1.26 ×10−6 T/( A •t /m).

μ=μ r ×1.26 ×10−6 T /( A •t /m)

Example. Find μ in SI units when μr =2500

Ohm’s Law for Magnetic Circuits

In comparison with electric cuircuits, the magnetic flux ɸ corresponds to current. The flux ɸ is produced
by ampere-turns IN of magnetomotive force. Therefore, the mmf corresponds to voltage.
Opposition to the production of flux in a material is called reluctance, comparable with resistance.
The symbol for reluctance is ℜ. Reluctance is inversely proportional to permeability and high reluctance.
In the figure below the ampere-turns of the coil produce magnetic flux throughout the magnetic
path. The reluctance is the total opposition to the flux.

The three factors-flux, ampere-turns, and reluctance-are related as follows:

mmf
ɸ=
R

which is known as Ohm’s law for magnetic circuits, corresponding to I =V / R . The mmf is considered to
produce the flux in a magnetic material against the opposition of its reluctance ℜ. These relationship
corresponds to mmf or voltage producing current in connecting material against the opposition of its
resistance.
Examples

a. A coil has a mmf of 250 A ∙ t and reluctance of 1.25 ×106 A ∙t /Wb . Calculate the total flux in
μWb .

b. A magnetic material has a total flux of 32 μWb with a mmf of 40 A ∙ t . Calculate the reluctance
in A ∙ t/ Wb.

c. If the reluctance of a material is 100 ×106 A ∙t /Wb , how much mmf would be required to
produce a flux value of 250 μWb?

Faraday’s Law of Induced Voltage

When magnetic flux cuts across a conductor, a voltage is induced across the ends of the conductor.
Either the magnetic flux or the conductor can move. Specifically, the amount of induced voltage is
determined by the following equation.

dɸ
V ind =N ×
dt

Where N = the number of turns in coil

dɸ
= rate of magnetic flux cutting across the coil (Wb/s)
dt

This is Faraday’s Law. The equation tells us that the amount of induced voltage depends on three
factors.

1. The number of flux lines in webers that cut across the conductor.
2. The number of turns in the coil.
3. The rate at which the magnetic flux cuts across the conductor.

It is very important to realize here that the flux must be moving (i. e. , expanding or collapsing), in order
for there to be an induced voltage in a stationary coil.

Example
A magnetic field cuts across a coil having 1000 turns at the rate of 2000 μWb /s. Calculate the
induced voltage.