22GE003 - BASICS OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

UNIT 3
INDUCED ELECTRIC FIELD DUE TO CHANGING MAGNETIC
FIELD
3.1 EMF due to change in Magnetic field
To see how an emf can be induced by a changing magnetic field, let us consider a loop of
wire connected to a galvanometer, as illustrated in Figure 1. When a magnet is moved toward the
loop, the galvanometer needle deflects in one direction, arbitrarily shown to the right in Figure 1a.
When the magnet is moved away from the loop, the needle deflects in the opposite direction, as
shown in Figure 1c. When the magnet is held stationary relative to the loop (Fig.1b), no deflection
is observed. Finally, if the magnet is held stationary and the loop is moved either toward or away
from it, the needle deflects. From these observations, we conclude that the loop “knows” that the
magnet is moving relative to it because it experiences a change in magnetic field. Thus, it seems
that a relationship exists between current and changing magnetic field.
 Figure 1 (a) When a magnet is moved toward a loop of wire connected to a galvanometer, the galvanometer
deflects as shown, indicating that a current is induced in the loop. (b) When the magnet is held stationary,
there is no induced current in the loop, even when the magnet is inside the loop. (c) When the magnet is
moved away from the loop, the galvanometer deflects in the opposite direction, indicating that the induced
current is opposite that shown in part (a). Changing the direction of the magnet’s motion changes the
direction of the current induced by that motion.

Now let us describe an experiment conducted by Faraday and illustrated in Figure 2. A

primary coil is connected to a switch and a battery. The coil is wrapped around a ring, and a current
in the coil produces a magnetic field when the switch is closed. A secondary coil also is wrapped
around the ring and is connected to a galvanometer. No battery is present in the secondary circuit,
and the secondary coil is not connected to the primary coil. Any current detected in the secondary
circuit must be induced by some external agent. Initially, you might guess that no current is ever
detected in the secondary circuit. However, something quite amazing happens when the switch in
the primary circuit is either suddenly closed or suddenly opened. At the instant the switch is closed,
the galvanometer needle deflects in one direction and then returns to zero. At the instant the switch
is opened, the needle deflects in the opposite direction and again returns to zero. Finally, the
galvanometer reads zero when there is either a steady current or no current in the primary circuit.

Figure 2 Faraday’s experiment. When the switch in the primary circuit is closed, the galvanometer in the
secondary circuit deflects momentarily. The emf induced in the secondary circuit is caused by the changing
magnetic field through the secondary coil.

The key to under standing what happens in this experiment is to first note that when the
switch is closed, the current in the primary circuit produces a magnetic field in the region of the
circuit, and it is this magnetic field that penetrates the secondary circuit. Furthermore, when the
switch is closed, the magnetic field produced by the current in the primary circuit changes from
zero to some value over some finite time, and it is this changing field that induces a current in the
secondary circuit.

As a result of these observations, Faraday concluded that an electric current can be

induced in a circuit (the secondary circuit in our setup) by a changing magnetic field. The
induced current exists for only a short time while the magnetic field through the secondary coil is
changing. Once the magnetic field reaches a steady value, the current in the secondary coil
disappears. In effect, the secondary circuit behaves as though a source of emf were connected to it
for a short time. It is customary to say that an induced emf is produced in the secondary circuit
by the changing magnetic field.

the emf induced in a circuit is directly proportional to the time rate of change of the magnetic
flux through the circuit.

This statement, known as Faraday’s law of induction, can be written

where is the magnetic flux through the circuit.

If the circuit is a coil consisting of N loops all of the same area and if B is the flux through one
loop, an emf is induced in every loop; thus, the total induced emf in the coil is given by the
expression

3.2 Electric Field due to change in magnetic field

The fact that emfs are induced in circuits implies that work is being done on the conduction
electrons in the wires. What can possibly be the source of this work? We know that it’s neither a
battery nor a magnetic field, for a battery does not have to be present in a circuit where current is
induced, and magnetic fields never do work on moving charges. The answer is that the source of
the work is an electric field E⃗ that is induced in the wires. The work done by E⃗ in moving a unit
charge completely around a circuit is the induced emf ε; that is,

where ∮ represents the line integral around the circuit. Faraday’s law can be written in terms of
the induced electric field as
There is an important distinction between the electric field induced by a changing magnetic field
and the electrostatic field produced by a fixed charge distribution. Specifically, the induced electric
field is nonconservative because it does net work in moving a charge over a closed path, whereas
the electrostatic field is conservative and does no net work over a closed path. Hence, electric
potential can be associated with the electrostatic field, but not with the induced field. The following
equations represent the distinction between the two types of electric field:

Our results can be summarized by combining these equations:

Example:
What is the induced electric field in the circular coil shown in figure below at at the three
times indicated? t1=0, t2=5.0×10−2s , and t3=1.0 s. A magnetic field B⃗ is directed outward
perpendicular to the plane of a circular coil of radius r = 0.50 m. The field is cylindrically
symmetrical with respect to the center of the coil, and its magnitude decays exponentially
according to B = (1.5T)e(5.0s−1)t , where B is in teslas and t is in seconds.
Solution
The induced electric field in the coil is constant in magnitude over the cylindrical surface,
similar to how Ampere’s law problems with cylinders are solved. Since E⃗ is tangent to the coil,

When combined with Equation 13.5.5 , this gives

The direction of ϵ is counterclockwise, and E⃗ circulates in the same direction around the coil.
The values of E are

3.3 Electric Field Induced by the Changing Magnetic Field of a

Solenoid
Part (a) of Figure 1 shows a long solenoid with radius R and n turns per unit length; its
current decreases with time according to I=I0e−αt. What is the magnitude of the induced electric
field at a point a distance r from the central axis of the solenoid
(a) when r > R and
(b) when r < R [see part (b) of Figure 1].
(c) What is the direction of the induced field at both locations?
Assume that the infinite-solenoid approximation is valid throughout the regions of interest.
Figure 1 (a) The current in a long solenoid is decreasing exponentially. (b) A cross-sectional
view of the solenoid from its left end. The cross-section shown is near the middle of the
solenoid. An electric field is induced both inside and outside the solenoid.
Solution
a. The magnetic field is confined to the interior of the solenoid where

Thus, the magnetic flux through a circular path whose radius r is greater than R, the
solenoid radius, is

The induced field E⃗ is tangent to this path, and because of the cylindrical symmetry of
the system, its magnitude is constant on the path. Hence, we have
 b. For a path of radius r inside the solenoid, so

and the induced field is

c. The magnetic field points into the page as shown in part (b) and is decreasing. If either of
the circular paths were occupied by conducting rings, the currents induced in them would
circulate as shown, in conformity with Lenz’s law. The induced electric field must be so
directed as well.

3.4 Significance
In part (b), note that |E⃗ | increases with r inside and decreases as 1/r outside the solenoid,
as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 : The electric field vs. distance r. When r < R , the electric field rises
linearly, whereas when r > R , the electric field falls of proportional to 1/r.
Discussion Questions:
1. Why is it that induced electric fields due to changing magnetic flux are more readily
observable than the induced magnetic fields due to changing electric fields?
The magnitude of the magnetic field due to displacement current is too small to be easily
observable. This effect can of course be increased by increasing the displacement current.
On the other hand, the effect of induced electric field due to changing magnetic flux can
be increased simply by taking more and more number of turns in the coil. The induced
emf’s in different turns of the same coil add up in series.
2. A coil consists of 200 turns of wire having a total resistance of 2.0 (. Each turn is a square
of side 18 cm, and a uniform magnetic field directed perpendicular to the plane of the coil
is turned on. If the field changes linearly from 0 to 0.50 T in 0.80 s, what is the magnitude
of the induced emf in the coil while the field is changing?