MAGNETISM

MAGNETISM 🧲🔱
This is the ability of substances to attract and/or to repel others.

A magnet is a piece of metal which is able to attract another magnet or a magnetic material.

Lodestone is a naturally occurring magnet. A magnet exerts magnetic forces on magnetic

materials.

The magnetic forces are:

📌Forces of attraction.
📌Forces of repulsion.
Uses of magnets

📌In construction of cycle dynamos, telephones, loud speaker, electric meters, current
measuring instruments.

📌To remove metal splinters from oil engine

📌For door closures
📌Electric bell
📌Magnetic ink
📌Computer memory cards.
📌Electric motor
📌Magnets are used in hospitals to remove iron pieces from the eye of patient.
📌Making magnetic tapes used in audio and video recorders.
Properties of a magnet

(a) It attracts other pieces of metals.

●Materials attracted by magnets are called magnetic materials.

●Materials strongly attracted by magnets are called ferromagnetic materials such as iron, nickel
steel, cobalt.
●Materials that are not attracted by magnets are non magnetic materials, e.g. copper, brass,
aluminium, wood and plastics.

●Nonmagnetic material can either be diamagnetic or paramagnetic materials.

📌Diamagnetic materials whose atoms have no permanent magnetic dipole moment but when
placed in a magnetic field, a weak magnetic dipole moment is induced in the direction opposite
the applied field; e.g., copper, bismuth and benzene

📌Paramagnetic materials that are weakly attracted to magnets. e.g. platinum

(b) It possesses magnetic poles– the North Pole and South Pole at the ends of a magnet. These
are places where magnetic forces appear to be concentrated.

(c) A freely suspended magnet rests in the North-south direction

This is because the earth is a magnet having its south pole in the northern hemisphere and its
north pole in the southern hemisphere so there is attraction between the poles of freely
suspended magnet and the earth’s magnet.

Laws of magnet

📌Like poles of magnets repel; g. when a north pole is brought near a north pole or a south pole
brought near the south, repulsion occurs.
📌Unlike poles of magnet attract g. a north pole brought near the South Pole attraction will
occur.

Testing for polarity of a pole 😁🔱

A known pole of magnet is brought near the ends of a material suspected to be a magnet. If
repulsion occurs then that end of material is a like pole. The poles of a given magnet or
magnetized material are tested by repulsion occurring between poles of a known magnet and
that of the material whose polarity is to be tested.

🔥
Note : Repulsion is the only a sure test for polarity because repulsion only occurs due to like
poles of magnets. While attraction is not a sure test because attraction can either result from
unlike poles of magnets or from magnet and Ferromagnetic material which is not magnetized.

Magnetic domain theory✍ ❤

A magnet is made us of tiny molecular magnets called dipole arranged in groups called
magnetic domains, lined up with their N-poles pointing in the same direction.

In nonmagnetic materials, the domains are randomly mixed and their magnetic effect cancel
each out.
Magnetization 🔥
This is a process by which randomly arranged molecular magnet of a ferromagnetic material
are aligned to point in one direction.

Methods of magnetization ❤
These include:

Single touch method.

Double touch method.

Electrical method using direct current (d.c.).

(a) Single touch or single stroke method

A steel bar (Ferromagnetic material) is stroked several times from end to end using a bar
magnet. The stroking is done in the same direction and using the same pole of bar magnet. A
becomes a north pole while B becomes a south pole.

Disadvantage of single stroke method

The magnet produced has one pole nearer to the end as compared to the other pole

Identification of a pole

The pole of the bar magnet being used for stroking should be the same pole induced at the end
of the steel bar from where stroking starts.

(b) Double touch method or double stroke method 😇

This uses two bar magnets placed at the centre of the steel bar with unlike poles as in the
diagram. The stroking begins in the middle of the steel bar and ends at the opposite ends. The
magnets are raised high at the end of each stroke before another one begins. This prevents
reversing the acquired magnetism.
Advantage of a double touch method over a single touch method

✅All poles are at both ends while for single touch method one pole is nearer to end than the
other.

Disadvantages of double touch method over a single touch method

👍Double touch method is more expensive and tiresome.

(c) Electrical method 🔌💡
The steel bar to be magnetized is placed inside a solenoid connected to the cells.

When direct current is switched on for some time, the bar will be magnetized

Note that with a.c. current the bar is not magnetized

Polarity of steel bar ❤

The polarity of the steel bar depends on the direction in which the current is flowing. Current
flows from positive to negative, so if on looking at the end of solenoid, current is flowing in a
clock wise direction, that end will be South Pole but if it is flowing anti clockwise the end will be
a north pole.
(d) Induction method

When a magnetic material is kept close to a magnet for long time it gets magnetized.

Demagnetization ✊🔱
Demagnetization is the process through which magnets lose their magnetism

Demagnetization result in scattering molecular magnets to face in randomly.

Methods of demagnetization ❤
(i) By Heating:

Heating a magnetized material makes it loses its magnetism. This is because the temperature
rise causes the vibrations of molecular magnets to become so great that their ordinary
arrangement is destroyed.

(ii) By hammering:

Hammering a magnetized material placed in east-west direction, makes it loses most of its
magnetism. This is because when a magnet is hammered, the vibrations of the molecular
magnets increase which result in random arrangement.

(iii) By electrical method using alternating current

Here an alternating current is supplied to the solenoid in which the magnet is placed in east-
west direction.

The alternating current (a.c.) causes the molecular magnets to change from orderly to random
arrangement as current changes direction of flow every half cycle.

The demagnetized magnets should be removed from solenoid and stored along east- west
direction to avoid magnetization due to earth’s field.
Soft and hard magnetic substances ❤ 🔱
Soft magnetic materials are substance that are easily magnetized and easily lose magnetism,
e.g. soft iron.

Soft magnetic materials are used in making soft-iron core in transformers, dynamos, e.t.c.

Hard magnetic material are materials that are difficult to magnetize but retair their magnetism
for long, e.g. steel.

Hard magnetic materials are used in loud spears.

Magnetic field 🙌❤
A magnetic field is a region around a magnet in which magnetic force is experienced.

An experiment to determine the magnetic field pattern of bar magnet using iron fillings.

📌A cardboard is placed on a magnet and iron fillings sprinkled on the cardboard.

📌On tapping slightly on the cardboard, the fillings arrange themselves along the magnetic lines
Magnetic field lines

They are lines of forces in magnetic field running from North to south poles of a magnet. The
direction of these lines can be shown using a plotting compass.

Note 🔥:
(i) Neutral point are places around magnets where the magnetic field flux is zero; i.e. no
magnetic line pass through neutral point

(ii) The more crowded the field lines, the stronger the magnetic force

(iii) Magnetic shielding/screening is the protection of the object against external magnetic fields
by enclosing it with soft – iron ring or box

The magnetic field lines are attracted to soft iron ring shielding the region enclosed by the ring
or box from magnetic field

Application ❤
Thick-walled soft-iron boxes are used to shield delicate and sensitive electrical instruments
from external magnetic fields

The earth as a magnet 🌍🧲

Suspending a bar magnet

When a bar magnet is freely suspended, it always come to rest in a north-south direction. This is
because the earth is a magnet having its north pole in the southern hemisphere and South Pole
in the northern hemisphere and these poles attract the poles of the freely suspended magnet, i.e.
Earth’s magnetic field

The earth’s magnetic field lines are made up of parallel lines running from geographical south to
geographical north.

The study of the earth’s magnetic field involves:

📌Two imaginary lines called magnetic meridian and geographical meridian

📌Two angles called angles of dip and angle declination
📌Magnetic meridian: This is the vertical plane containing the magnetic axis
📌Geographic meridian: this is the vertical plane passing through the axis of rotation of the
earth.

📌Angle of dip (inclination) α, is the angle that the axis of a freely suspended bar magnet makes
with the horizontal when the magnet settles.

Angle of declination 📈 (magnetic variance)

This is the angle between the earth’s magnetic and geographical meridians.

Or

the angle between magnetic north and true north.

Magnetic axis: This is the imaginary line passing through the earth’s magnetic North and South
Pole.

Geographical axis: This is the imaginary line through the center of the earth and passing
through the geographic North and south.

Variation of Angle of dip, α, as one moves from the magnetic equator up to the North Pole

Generally the angle of dip varies from 0° at the magnetic equator to 90° at the North Pole.

Magnetic Equator: This is the greatest circle in a horizontal plane perpendicular to the magnetic
meridian where a freely suspended bar magnet experiences zero magnetic dip.

At the magnetic equator, the earth’s magnetic field lines are parallel to the horizontal. Therefore
the angle of dip at the equator is zero, (α =0)

At the North Pole, the magnetic field lines are normal to the earth’s surface, thus they are
perpendicular to the horizontal. Therefore the angle of dip at the North Pole = 90° or α = 90°.
Illustration of the relationship of geographical north, magnetic north, angle of dip and angle of
declination

α = angle of dip

θ = angle of declination

BH = horizontal component of the earth’s magnetic field

BV = vertical component of magnetic field

B = resultant magnetic flux density

Angle of dip, α = tan^-1[Bv/BH]

Magnetic field patterns due to current carrying conductors 😁❤
When a straight wire or conductor is carrying a steady or direct current, a magnetic fields is
created or generated around it.

For a straight conductor, the magnetic field pattern is uniform with concentric circles around it.

The direction of magnetic field is determined by Right hand grip rule

Right hand grip rule

Imagine gripping the conductor with the thumb straight in the direction of flow of current, with
the finger curled around it, the direction in which the fingers gives the direction of magnetic field
around the conductor, i.e.,

(i) Using right hand rule the magnetic field pattern for a conductor carrying current from left
to the right can be predicted as follows

(ii) Using right hand rule the magnetic field pattern for a conductor carrying current from right
to the left can be predicted as follows

Magnetic field patterns for straight wires carrying a current perpendicularly out of or into the
plane of paper as shown in the image respectively below expectation
Magnetic field patterns for straight wires carrying a current perpendicularly out of or into the
plane of paper as shown in the image respectively below

Magnetic field pattern due solenoid carrying a current

📌Solenoid consists of a length of insulated wire coiled into a cylinder shape.

📌Current in solenoid produces a stronger magnetic field inside the solenoid than outside. The
field lines in this region are parallel and closely spaced showing the field is highly uniform in
strength and direction.

📌Field lines outside the solenoid are similar to that of a bar magnet, and it behaves in a similar
way – as if it had a north pole at one end and South Pole at the other end.

📌Strength of the field diminishes with distance from the solenoid.

📌Reversing the direction of the current reverses the direction of the magnetic field.
Strength of the magnetic field can be increased by:

increasing the current in the coil

increasing the number of coils in the solenoid; and

using a soft iron core within the solenoid.

Right-hand rule can be used to find the direction of the magnetic field. In this case, point the
wrapped fingers (along the coil) in the direction of the conventional current. Then, the thumb will
point to the direction of magnetic field within the solenoid.

Magnetic flux density, B (magnetic induction) ❤ 🔱

This is the force acting perpendicularly on a conductor of length one meter carrying a current of
one ampere in a direction normal to the field.

The S.I unit of B is tesla (T)

A tesla is the magnetic flux density in which a straight conductor of length 1m placed across
the field and carrying a current of one ampere experiences a magnetic force of one Newton (1N)

Note: 1T = 1N/1A × 1m

Magnetic flux, φ (phi)

Magnetic flux is defined as the number of magnetic field lines passing through a given closed
surface.

It provides the measurement of the total magnetic field that passes through a given surface
area.
The strength of the field around a magnet depends on how close you get.

Magnetic flux is a product of magnitude of magnetic flux density and area of projection normal
to magnetic field lines

I.e. φ = B x A = BA

S.I unit of magnetic flux φ is Weber (Wb)

If a magnetic field is at an angle, θ, to the area, A, then

φ = BAcosθ

Force on a conductor or Fleming’s Rule

When a conductor carrying a current is- placed in a magnetic field due to some source other
than itself, it experiences a mechanical force.

To demonstrate this, a short brass rod R is connected across a pair of brass rails, as shown in
above. A horseshoe magnet is placed so that the rod lies in the field between its poles. When
current I passes through the rod, from an accumulator, the rod rolls along the rails. The direction
of rolling is predicted by Fleming’s Left Hand rule.
Fleming’s Left Hand rule

States that when a straight conductor is placed across a magnetic field and a current is passed
through it, the direction of magnetic force is predicted by the thumb when the first two fingers
are placed perpendicular to each other. The first finger pointing in magnetic field direction and
the second finger in the direction of current

F = BILsinθ

When θ =90°; F = BIL

When θ = 0; F = 0

It follows that F is zero when the conductor is parallel to the field direction