Lesson#1

MAGNETS AND
ELECTROMAGNETISM

MAGNETS
Magnetism Is A Force That Acts On Certain Materials. without going
into too much detail it is useful to remember that it is a fundamental force
that attracts or repels certain types of materials
WHAT MATERIALS?
ALLOYS OF COPPER,NICKEL, ALUMINIUM, IRON, COBALT.
The unique class of materials that are strongly affected by magnetism
are called ferromagnetic and they will attract anything that contains iron.
A permanent magnet is a material that, when placed into a strong magnetic
field, will exhibit a magnetic field of its own, and continue to exhibit a
magnetic field once it has been removed from the original field. This
magnetic field is continuous without losing strength, as long as it is not
subject to changes in environment such as temperature, a de-magnetising
field or being hit. Magnetism is a di cult concept as all you can see are the
effects of magnetism. The invisible lines, called flux lines, can only be seen by
sprinkling iron lings on to paper that is close to a magnet.
Ferromagnetic metals that are attracted by magnets include iron, steel and
other iron alloys, but also nickel and cobalt.

Rules of magnetism
There are several features that magnets
display:
Magnets have two poles, North and
South.
The magnetic lines of force ( flux) never
cross.
Flux lines always form a closed loop.
If the flux lines distort when brought
close to another magnetic field
they will always return to their original
shape when moved away again.
Outside of the magnet, flux lines run
North to South.
A magnet placed in a magnetic field
experiences a force on it.
The higher the concentration of flux
lines, the stronger the magnet.
Like poles repel.
Unlike poles attract.

Strength of a magnet
The concentration of flux lines determines how
strong the magnet will be. Magnetic flux, with
the symbol , is measured in webers, Wb. The
concentration of flux lines or magnetic flux
density, B, is how many flux lines are in a special
area of the magnet. Hence, it is measured in
webers/m and found by the formula:
B = /A
where A is the cross-sectional area measured in
m and , the magnetic flux, is measured in Wb.
It is worth noting that magnetic flux density is
also measured in tesla, T. It has two units that
are both perfectly acceptable.

Worked example 1
Calculate the magnetic flux
density of a magnet with a
flux 2 Wb and
cross-sectional area of 0.13
m.
B = /A
B=2
0.13 = 15.38

Electromagnetism
When current passes through a conductor, a magnetic
field is induced around that conductor. The strength of
the magnetic field is proportional to the amount of
current passing through the conductor. It can only exist
while the current is owing. Control of an
electromagnet can be achieved,
by simply putting a switch into the circuit. It is
important for lots of applications to know the direction
in which the magnetic field is going. Motor movement
is caused by the interaction of magnetic fields, so it is
a good idea to know which way the motor will start
spinning. The concentric circles of magnetic flux lines
stretch along the whole length of a current-carrying
conductor and the flux direction is relative to the
direction of current, as can be seen in Figure

Magnetic field around a straight wire

Maxwells screw rule

An easy way to work out which way the flux lines are running is to
imagine
putting a screw into a piece of wood. As the screw is turning clockwise it
is going into the wood. The direction of the screw is the direction of the
current flow (away from you and into the wood) and the clockwise
rotation
represents the rotation of flux lines, as per Figure below. This is known
as Maxwells screw rule and is named after the scientist who discovered
it.

ction of flux is found by the RIGHT hand rule.

The solenoid
A solenoid is a number of turns of insulated
conductor wire closely wound in the same
direction to form a coil. The coil is held in place
by a core called a former. If the coils are
connected to a circuit with a current supply
and a switch, a solenoid is created. The direction
of the current dictates the polarity of the
electromagnet. Imagine taking your right hand
and wrapping your fingers around the solenoid in
the direction of the current flow; your thumb will
point to the North Pole.
The solenoid is a temporary magnet that acts
like a permanent bar magnet when switched
on. Applications include relays, contactor
controls, fire doors, bells and buzzers,
residual current devices (RCDs) and miniature
circuit breakers (MCBs).Consider replacing the
battery source with an ammeter and then
pushing a
magnet into the coil at speed what will

Magnetic Materials
Magnetic material are attracted to magnetic fields.
Examples of ferromagnetic materials;
iron
iron compounds
alloys of iron or steel
nonmagnetic materials:( no attraction) metals such as
copper, brass, al,
silver zinc, tin.
flux travels thru nonmagnetic materials.
Permanent magnets
Domains remain aligned.
Examples:
Fe (ferrous) with 0.8% carbon
alloys like alnico (compound of fe cobalt ,nickel, al, and
cu)
also certain ceramic materials

Thank you