Magnetism

Physics Notes
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 Properties of magnets
• The 2 regions where the magnetic forces are the strongest in a
magnet are called the poles of the magnet
• All magnets obey the law of magnetism which states that
o Like poles repel
o Unlike poles attract one another
 Magnetic and non
magnetic materials

Magnetic materials Non-magnetic materials

Materials which are attracted Materials which cannot be
by a magnet attracted by a magnet
Eg. iron, cobalt, nickel, alloys Eg. wood, paper, copper,
of these metals like steel glass, alloys like brass and
aluminium
 Induced magnetism
• It is the temporary magnetization of a magnetic material when
it is placed near or in contact with a magnet.
• Induced magnets have the same magnetic properties like
ordinary magnets
 Induced magnets
• The strength of an induced magnet is increased
if
o A stronger magnet is used
o The distance between the magnet and the induced magnet is decreased
o The induced magnet is made of a soft magnetic material like iron
 Applications of induced
magnetism
• In hospitals, strong magnets can be used to induce magnetism
in a steel splinter and remove It from a patient’s eye
• Steel tools and girders in bridges are often slightly magnetized
by magnetic induction from the earth’s magnetization
Electromagnetic induction
• Factors affecting the magnitude of the induced
e.m.f
o The magnitude of the induced current is increased when
• The magnet moves at a faster speed in or out of the coil
• A stronger magnet is used
• The number of turns in the coil is increased
 Methods of magnetization
Methods Details
Heating and A steel bar, lying in a NS
hammering direction, is heated to a high
temperature and then hammered
softly during cooling

Stroking One or two permanent magnets

can be used to magnetize a steel
bar by stroking using the single
touch or double touch method

Using a When a direct current flows

direct current through the solenoid, the steel
flowing bar in it will be magnetized with
through a polarities depending on the
solenoid direction in which the current
flows
 Methods of
demagnetization
Methods Details
Heating and A magnet, lying in an eastwest
hammering direction, is heated to a high
temperature and then hammered
vigorously during cooling

Heating above When a magnet is heated above its

its Curie Curie temperature, it loses all its
temperature magnetism and cannot be
magnetized

Using an When an alternating current flows

alternating through the solenoid, the magnet in it
current flowing will be demagnetized as the magnet
through a is slowly withdrawn further and
solenoid further away from the solenoid
 Theory of magnetization
• Each electron acts as a tiny magnet as it spins and orbits around the
nucleus of an atom
• In non-magnetic materials, electron motions are such that the
magnetic effects cancel each other out
• However, in magnetic materials, the magnetic atoms arrange
themselves in groups each with all its atomic magnets pointing in a
certain direction
• These groups are called magnetic domains and each acts as a strong
magnet
• In the unmagnetized state, the domains in a magnetic material all
point in different directions and their magnetic effects cancel each
other out
 Magnetic fields
• It is the region around a magnet where its magnetic forces act
 Magnetic field
• A strong magnet has a strong magnetic field, that is, it
produces more lines of magnetic flux
• Magnetic strength can be increased by combining 2 or more
magnetic fields
• In magnetic shielding, magnetic lines of force are made to
pass through magnetic materials like iron. As a result, there is
no magnetic effect at certain regions near the magnet
 Magnetic properties of
iron and steel
Iron Steel
Magnetically soft – can gain or Magnetically hard – difficult to
lose magnetism easily and quickly gain or lose magnetism quickly
Induced magnetism is stronger Induced magnetism is relatively
and occurs almost instantaneously weaker and occurs slowly
It loses all its induced magnetism It retains some of its induced
when the inducing magnet is magnetism when the inducing
removed magnet is removed
Application: used as the core of an Application: used to make
electromagnet permanent magnets
 Permanent magnets
• Similarities between permanent magnet and
electromagnet
o In each permanent magnet or electromagnet, there is a N-pole and a S-pole
o Both the permanent magnet and the electromagnet obey the law of magnetism:
like poles repel and unlike poles attract

Permanent magnet Electromagnet

Its magnetic strength is constant Its magnetic strength is variable
Its magnetic strength does not depend Its magnetic strength depends on the
on the magnitude of an electric current magnitude of the electric current
flowing through it
Made from steel Made from iron
Applications: used in compasses, Applications: used in magnetic relays,
motors, loudspeakers, electric meters electric bells, etc
like galvanometers, microphones etc
Magnetic relay
When the switch connected to
the battery is open, no current
flows through the solenoid. The
switch which is connected to
the high voltage circuit remains
open

When the switch connected to

the battery is closed, a small
current flows through the
solenoid which then acts as an
electromagnet. The iron
armature is attracted to the
electromagnet and the switch
connected to the high voltage is
closed.
 Electromagnetic effects
• A simple generator with rotating coil and slip rings

The diagram shows an a.c.

generator consisting of a
rectangular coil of wire connected
to a pair of slip rings. The coil is
placed between the N-pole and S-
pole of a magnet

When a coil is rotated, the magnetic

field linked with the coil changes
and an e.m.f. is induced in the coil

The slip rings connect the same

carbon brush to the same end of
coil so that current can flow to an
external load, r.
a.c. generator
Graph of voltage
output against time
for a simple a.c.
generator

Determining the direction of

induced current in the coil
using the Fleming’s right
hand rule
Rotating coil and voltage
The graph shows the coil at
different positions when it is rotated
(clockwise direction).

When the coil is in vertical position

(A), the sides are moving parallel to
the magnetic lines, the induced
e.m.f. is zero

When the coil is in horizontal

position (B), the induced e.m.f. is
maximum.

The direction of the induced current

in the coil when at position B is
opposite to that when the coil is at
position D.
Increasing speed of
rotation

The frequency of the

coil rotating at the
faster speed 2v is
twice that when it is
rotating at speed v
Increasing number of
turns
The maximum output
voltage for the coil with
2N turns is twice that
for the coil with N
turns

The frequency of the

output voltage is the
same because both coils
are rotating at the same
speed
 Transformer

• The transformer consists of a primary coil and a secondary coil of wire

wound round a laminated soft iron core
• The iron core is used because it can be magnetised and demagnetised
easily. The iron core is laminated to reduce heat loss due to eddy
currents
• Operation principles of the transformer:
• The a.c. supply passes through a primary coil
• The changing magnetic field produced in the primary coil linked to
the secondary coil causes an induced e.m.f. to be produced in the
secondary coil
Formula

For 100% efficient transformer

 Step up Step down

Secondary > primary Secondary < primary

 Use of step up transformers in
high voltage transmission
• Alternating voltage from the power station is stepped up using
a transformer at the primary substation and transmitted using
cables
• At the secondary substation, the voltage is stepped down using
a transformer at the secondary substation before it is used in
factories and homes
 Power loss in cables
• Power loss in the cables due to heating effect is given by
Power = I2R
o I = current
o R = resistance of wire
 Advantages of high
voltage transmission
• It is a cheaper alternative to using thicker wires
• Thicker wires will reduce resistance and therefore reduces
power loss in the cables but this method is very costly
• Transformers are used for high voltage transmission
 Right Hand Grip Rule

The magnetic field forms concentric circles around the wire. The circles
are closer together near the wire than when further away from the wire
The direction of field can be determined by using the right hand grip rule
 Pattern of magnetic field due
to a current in a solenoid

The magnetic field resembles that of a bar magnet

The direction of the magnetic field can be determined by the Right Hand Grip
Rule
 Increasing strength of
magnetic field
• The strength of a magnetic field can be
increased by
o Increasing the magnitude of the current
o Increasing the number of turns per unit length of the solenoid
o Using a soft iron core within the solenoid
Electric bell
• When the button is depressed,
current flows and the electromagnet
attracts the soft iron armature
• The hammer moves and hits the
gong, but this breaks the contact
with the screw (open circuit) and
thus current stops to flow through
the coil of the electromagnet
• The iron core in the electromagnet
loses its magnetism and n longer
attracts the armature
• The spring causes the armature to
return to its original position and
makes contact with the screw
• Current flows in the circuit and the
process is repeated