Week 8

Applications of Magnetic force

Ampere’s Law

Dr Sohail Amjad
 Outline

The Direct-Current Motor,

The Hall Effect
Ampere’s Law
Applications of Ampere’s Law

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 DC Motor

The basic principle:

"In a motor a magnetic torque acts on a current-carrying conductor, and
electric energy is converted to mechanical energy. "

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 DC Motor

The moving part of the motor is the rotor, a length of wire formed into
an open-ended loop and free to rotate about an axis. The ends of the
rotor wires are attached to circular conducting segments that form a
commutator.

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 DC Motor

Each of the two commutator segments makes contact with one of the
terminals, or brushes, of an external circuit that includes a source of emf.
This causes a current to flow into the rotor on one side, shown in red,
and out of the rotor on the other side, shown in blue. Hence the rotor is
a current loop with a magnetic moment µ ⃗ . The rotor lies between
opposing poles of a permanent magnet, so there is a magnetic field B ⃗
that exerts a torque ⃗τ = µ
⃗ × B on the rotor, which causes the rotor to
⃗
turn counterclockwise, in the direction that will align µ
⃗ with B.
⃗

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 DC Motor

Move towards the center of the image, and the rotor has rotated by 90°
from its orientation. If the current through the rotor were constant, the
rotor would now be in its equilibrium orientation; it would simply oscillate
around this orientation. But here’s where the commutator comes into
play; each brush is now in contact with both segments of the
commutator. There is no potential difference between the commutators,
so at this instant no current flows through the rotor, and the magnetic
moment is zero. The rotor continues to rotate counterclockwise because
of its inertia, and current again flows through the rotor ....
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 DC Motor

But now current enters on the blue side of the rotor and exits on the red
side, just the opposite of the situation in Fig a. While the direction of the
current has reversed with respect to the rotor, the rotor itself has rotated
180° and the magnetic moment µ ⃗ is in the same direction with respect
to the magnetic field. Hence the magnetic torque ⃗τ is in the same
direction in Fig c as in Fig a.

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 DC Motor

Thanks to the commutator, the current reverses after every 180° of

rotation, so the torque is always in the direction to rotate the rotor
counterclockwise. When the motor has come “up to speed”, the average
magnetic torque is just balanced by an opposing torque due to air
resistance, friction in the rotor bearings, and friction between the
commutator and brushes. The simple motor discussed above has only a
single turn of wire in its rotor. In practical motors, the rotor has many
turns; this increases the magnetic moment and the torque so that the
motor can spin larger loads. The torque can also be increased by using a
stronger magnetic field, which is why many motor designs use
electromagnets instead of a permanent magnet.

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The Hall Effect

It was discovered by the American physicist

Edwin Hall while he was still a graduate student.
The current is in the direction of the +x-axis and
there is a uniform magnetic field B⃗ perpendicular
to the plane of the strip, in the +y-direction.
The drift velocity of the moving charges (charge
magnitude q) has magnitude vd .
Fz = |q|vd B pushes moving charge towards the
upper edge until the resulting electrostatic field
⃗ e makes |q|Ee equal and opposite to |q|vd B.
E
The resulting transverse potential difference is
called the Hall voltage or the Hall emf. The
polarity depends on whether the moving charges
are positive or negative.
qEz + qvd By = 0 or Ez = −vd By
−J B
Jx = nqvd =⇒ nq = Exz y (The Hall Effect)

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 The Hall Effect

−Jx By
Jx = nqvd =⇒ nq = Ez
We can measure Jx , By , and Ez , so we can compute the product
nq.
In both metals and semiconductors, q is equal in magnitude to the
electron charge, so the Hall effect permits a direct measurement of
n, the concentration of current-carrying charges in the material.
The sign of the charges is determined by the polarity of the Hall emf.
The Hall effect can also be used for a direct measurement of
electron drift speed vd in metals.

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 The Hall Effect

Soon after the discovery of the Hall effect in 1879, it was observed
that some materials, particularly some semiconductors, show a Hall
emf opposite to that of the metals, as if their charge carriers were
positively charged.
We now know that these materials conduct by a process known as
hole conduction.
Within such a material there are locations, called holes, that would
normally be occupied by an electron but are actually empty.
A missing negative charge is equivalent to a positive charge. When
an electron moves in one direction to fill a hole, it leaves another
hole behind it. The hole migrates in the direction opposite to that of
the electron.

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Magnetic Field of a moving point charge

The magnitude of the electric field E ⃗ caused by

the charge is proportional to the charge
magnitude |q| and to 1/r2 , and the direction of
⃗ (for positive q) is along the line from source
E
point to field point.
The corresponding relationship for the magnetic
field B
⃗ of a point charge q moving with constant
velocity has some similarities and some
interesting differences.
Experiments show that the magnitude of B is
also proportional to |q| and to 1/r2 . But the
direction of B⃗ is not along the line from source
point to field point.

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Magnetic Field of a moving point charge

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Magnetic Field of a moving point charge

Instead, B⃗ is perpendicular to the plane

containing this line and the particle?s velocity
vector ⃗v
The field magnitude B is also proportional to the
particle’s speed v and to the sine of the angle ϕ.
Thus the magnetic field magnitude at point P is
given by
µ0 |q|vsinϕ
B = 4π r2 .
We introduce a unit vector r̂ (?r-hat?) that
points from the source point to the field point,
and use the direction of Magnetic field to re-write
it as:
B⃗ = µ0 |q|⃗v2×r̂ .
4π r
At any distance r from q, B has its greatest
magnitude at points lying in the plane
perpendicular to ⃗v , because there ϕ = 90° and
sinϕ = 1
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 Magnetic Field of a Curent Element
The total magnetic field caused by several moving charges is the
vector sum of the fields caused by the individual charges
A short segment dl of a current-carrying
conductor has volume Adl. If there are n moving
charged particles per unit volume, each of charge
q, the total moving charge dQ in the segment is
dQ = nqAdl.
The moving charges in this segment are
equivalent to a single charge dQ, traveling with a
velocity equal to the drift velocity vd , so the
magnitude of the resulting field dB at any field
point P is:
µ0 |dQ|vd sinϕ µ0 n|q|vd Adl sinϕ
dB = 4π r2 = 4π r2 .
But we know n|q|vd A = JA = I so
⃗
⃗ = µ0 I dl×r̂
4π r 2 .
µ0 Idl sinϕ
dB = 4π r2 =⇒ dB

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Magnetic Field of a Straight Long Current Carrying
Conductor
⃗
⃗ = µ0 I dl×r̂
dB 4π r 2 is called Biot-Savrat Law. To find
the total magnetic field:
R ⃗
B⃗ = µ0 I dl×r̂
4π r2
In our casep here: r = x2 + y 2 and
p

sinϕ = x/ x2 + y 2 . Substituting these above:

Ra
B = µ4π0I xdy
−a (x2 +y 2 )3/2

Solve this to find: B = µ4π

0 I √ 2a
x x2 +a2
Mistake in Video: Read y → a
If the conductor is sufficiently and long, and
point P is at a considerable distance, a >> x:
µ0 I
B = 2πx
If we use radial coordinates instead:
B = µ2πr
0I
=⇒ B(2πr) = µ0 I
⃗ ⃗ = µ0 I
H
=⇒ [Link]
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Ampere’s Law

We used Gauss’s law to find the Electric field

previously. Remember
⃗ = Qencl−f ree ?
⃗ dA
H
ΦE = E. ϵ0
Instead of using the closed surfaces, we used
closed loops through which the current passes.
Thus the magnetic analog of Gauss’s law
⃗ = µo Iencl
⃗ dl
H
B.
is called Ampere’s law.
µo = 4π × 10−7 T.m/A is magnetic constast.

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Applying Ampere’s Law

Let’s consider the magnetic field caused by a long,

straight conductor carrying a current I. The field at
a distance r from the conductor has magnitude µ2πr0I

The magnetic field lines are circles centered on the

conductor. Let’s take the line integral of B around
one such circle with radius r.
At every point on the circle, B ⃗ are parallel,
⃗ and dl
⃗
and so [Link] = Bdl.
⃗
Since r is constant around the circle, B is constant
as well.
Hence we can take B outside the integral and what
remains is: H
⃗ = B dl
⃗ dl ⃗ = µ0 I (2πr) = µ0 I.
H
B. 2πr
The line integral is thus independent of the radius of
the circle and is equal to µ0 multiplied by the current
passing through the area bounded by the circle.
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Applying Ampere’s Law

The situation is the same, but the integration path

now goes around the circle in the opposite direction.
Now at every point on the circle, B⃗ and dl⃗ are
⃗
anti-parallel, and so [Link] = −Bdl.
⃗
Therefore the line integral equals = µ0 I.
We get the same result if the integration path is the
same as in previous situation, but the direction of
the current is reversed.
Thus B. ⃗ equals µ0 multiplied by the current
⃗ dl
H

passing through the area bounded by the integration

path, with a positive or negative sign depending on
the direction of the current relative to the direction
of integration.

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 Applying Ampere’s Law

There’s a simple rule for the sign of the current. It uses your right
hand.
Curl the fingers of your right hand around the integration path so
that they curl in the direction of integration (that is, the direction
that you use to evaluate B. ⃗ Then your right thumb indicates
⃗ dl).
H

the positive current direction.

Currents that pass through the integration path in this direction are
positive; those in the opposite direction are negative.
Using this rule, we can verify that the current is positive in situation
(a) above and negative in situation (b).
Here?s another way to say the same thing: Looking at the surface
bounded by the integration path, integrate counterclockwise around
the path as in (a). Currents moving toward you through the surface
are positive, and those going away from you are negative.

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 Applying Ampere’s Law

I will leave the following situation for your evaluation and solution.

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Ampere’s Law

If B. ⃗ = 0, it does not necessarily mean that

⃗ dl
H

B⃗ = 0 everywhere along the path, only that the

total current through an area bounded by the
path is zero.

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 Applications of Ampere’s Law

Do the following as Assignment No.4

Use Ampere’s law to find the magnetic field B
⃗ for the field of a
long, straight, current-carrying conductor.
A cylindrical conductor with radius R carries a current I. The current
is uniformly distributed over the cross-sectional area of the
conductor. Find the magnetic field as a function of the distance r
from the conductor axis for points both inside (r<R) and outside
(r>R) the conductor.

Find the magnetic field of a a) solenoid and b) toroidal solenoid

using the Ampere’s law.

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 Magnetic Materials

So far, we have assumed that the conductors are surrounded by

vacuum. In reality that’s not the case
The coils in transformers, motors, generators, and electromagnets
nearly always have iron cores to increase the magnetic field and
confine it to the desired regions.
Permanent magnets, magnetic recording tapes, and computer disks
depend directly on the magnetic properties of materials.
Therefore it is important to examine some aspects of the magnetic
properties of materials.

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 Magnetic Materials

The atoms that make up all matter contain moving electrons, and
these electrons form microscopic current loops that produce
magnetic fields of their own.
In many materials these currents are randomly oriented and cause no
net magnetic field.
But in some materials an external field (a field produced by currents
outside the material) can cause these loops to become oriented
preferentially with the field, so their magnetic fields add to the
external field.
We then say that the material is magnetised.

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Magnetic Materials
The Bohr Magneton

This moving electron (m, e, r, v) is

equivalent to a current loop with a
magnetic dipole moment µ = IA.
The area of the loop is A = πr2 .
The orbital period T is the orbit
circumference divided by the electron
speed: T = 2πr/v.
Therefore, our current is:
e ev
I= =
T 2πr
Using this in µ = IA We can find that:
ev evr
µ= (πr2 ) =
2πr 2

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Magnetic Materials
The Bohr Magneton

evr
µ=
2

Since the electron is moving in a circle, the angular

momentum is more relevant.
By definition angular momentum of an object
moving a circle is obtained as: L
⃗ = ⃗r × p⃗, where
p⃗ = m⃗v is its linear momentum, and r is the radius
of the circle. (Classical Mechanics)
Thus the magnitude of angular momentum is
L = mvr. Rearranging a bit we can rewrite it as:
L
m = vr.

evr e
=⇒ µ = = L
2 2m
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 Magnetic Materials
The Bohr Magneton

e
µ= L
2m

L is a quantized parameter i,e. its component in

a particular direction (e.g, Lz ) is always an
integer multiple of h/2π,
where h = 6.626 ×10−34 J.s is Planck’s constant.
(Quantum Mechanics)
Using L=h/2π, we can compute
 
e h eh
µ= =
2m 2π 4πm

This quantity is called Bohr’s Magneton.

µB = 9.274 × 10−24 J/T

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 Magnetic Materials
Magnetisation

In an atom, most of the various orbital and spin magnetic moments

of the electrons add up to zero. However, atoms in some materials
have a net magnetic moment of the order of µB .
When such a material is placed in a magnetic field, the field exerts a
torque on each magnetic moment (⃗τ = µ ⃗
⃗ × B).
These torques tend to align the magnetic moments with the field
(attraction).
The B⃗ field produced by microscopic electron current loops is
proportional to the total magnetic moment µ ⃗ total per unit volume V
in the material.
We call this vector the Magnetization of the material, denoted by
⃗ =µ
M ⃗ total /V .
The additional magnetic field due to magnetization of the material
turns out to be equal simply to µ0 M
⃗ , where µ0 is magnetic
constant. (It’s the same one we used before in Ampere’s law).

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 Magnetic Materials
Paramagnetism

When such a material completely surrounds a current-carrying

conductor, the total magnetic field B
⃗ in the material is:
B = B0 + µ0 M , where B0 is the field caused by the current in the
⃗ ⃗ ⃗
conductor. A material showing this behaviour is said to be
paramagnetic.
Paramagnets do not retain any magnetisation in the absence of an
externally applied magnetic field because thermal motion randomises
the spin orientations.
Paramagnetism is due to the presence of unpaired electrons in the
material, so most atoms with incompletely filled atomic orbitals are
paramagnetic, although exceptions such as copper exist.
Due to their spin, unpaired electrons have a magnetic dipole
moment and act like tiny magnets.
An external magnetic field causes the electrons’ spins to align
parallel to the field, causing a net attraction.

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 Magnetic Materials
Magnetic Permeability

The result of our calculations above is that the magnetic field at any
point in a paramagnetic material is greater by a dimensionless factor
Km , called the relative permeability of the material, than it would
be if the material were replaced by vacuum. [Analogous to inserting
a dielectric in the Capacitor]
As a matter of fact, permeability is the measure of the resistance of
a material against the formation of a magnetic field.
Hence, it can be understood as the degree of magnetisation that a
material obtains in response to an applied magnetic field.
Adaptation of our previous equations of magnetic field sources, to a
situation where current carrying conductor is in a paramagnetic
material, instead of vacuum requires replacing µ0 by Km µ0 . This
product is usually denoted as µ and is called the permeability of the
material: µ = Km µ0 .

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Magnetic Materials
Magnetic Suceptibility

The value of Km is different for different

materials; for common paramagnetic solids and
liquids at room temperature, Km typically ranges
from 1.00001 to 1.003.
Since permeability is very close to one and it
varies by a small amount. So we define another
quantity to make the difference pronounced.
The amount by which the relative permeability
differs from unity is called the magnetic
susceptibility. It is denoted by (χ) and
χm = Km − 1. [The dimensions of Km and χm ?]
See this table of values of χm and think for
yourselves, how this little parameter indicates
which material is more responsive to applied
magnetic field, and which one is less or not at all.

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 Magnetic Materials
Curie’s Law

The tendency of atomic magnetic moments to align themselves

parallel to the magnetic field (where the potential energy is
minimum) is opposed by random thermal motion, which tends to
randomise their orientations.
For this reason, paramagnetic susceptibility always decreases with
increasing temperature.
In many cases it is inversely proportional to the absolute
temperature T , and the magnetization M can be expressed as:
B
M =C
T
This relationship is called Curie′ s law, after its discoverer, Pierre
Curie (1859-1906). The quantity C is a constant, different for
different materials, called the Curie constant.

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Magnetic Materials
Diamagnetism

In some materials the total magnetic moment of

all the atomic current loops is zero when no
magnetic field is present.
An external field alters electron motions within
the atoms, causing additional current loops and
induced magnetic dipoles.
The induced field is always opposite in direction
to that of the external field. [Faraday’s law]
Such materials are said to be diamagnetic. They
always have negative susceptibility, and relative
permeability Km is very slightly less then unity,
(0.99990 to 0.99999) for solids and liquids.
Diamagnetic susceptibilities are very nearly
temperature independent.
Relationship between ±χ and magnetism type.
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 Magnetic Materials
Comparison

PROPERTIES PARAMAGNETIC DIAMAGNETIC

State solid, liquid or gas solid, liquid or gas
Effect of Magnet Weakly attracted Weakly repelled
Km >1 <1
χm >0 <0
Examples Lithium, Tantalum, Magnesium Copper, Silver, Gold

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 Magnetic Materials
Ferromagnetism

There is a third type of magnetic materials, is called ferromagnetic

materials. These includes iron, nickel, cobalt, and many alloys
containing these elements
Strong interactions between atomic magnetic moments cause them
to line up parallel to each other in regions called magnetic
domains, even in absence of external magnetic f ield.
This is different to our previous consideration, as there are magnetic
domains present even before applying a magnetic field.
So, what happens when we apply magnetic field to such a material??

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Magnetic Materials
Ferromagnetism

When such a material is placed in an external

magnetic field, the domains tend to orient
themselves parallel to the field.
The domain boundaries also shift; the domains
that are magnetized in the field direction grow,
and those that are magnetized in other directions
shrink.
Because the total magnetic moment of a domain
can be many thousands of Bohr magnetons
(µtotal ≃ 103 µB ), the torques that tend to align
the domains with an external field are much
stronger than occur with paramagnetic materials.
The relative permeability is much larger than
unity, typically of the order of 1000 to 100,000.

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Magnetic Materials
Ferromagnetism

As a result, a ferromagnetic material (such as

iron) is strongly magnetized by the field from a
permanent magnet and is attracted to the
magnet.
A paramagnetic material such as aluminum is
also attracted to a permanent magnet, but Km
for paramagnetic materials is so much smaller for
such a material than for ferromagnetic materials
that the attraction is very weak.
That’s why a magnet can pick up iron nails, but
not aluminum cans.
What happens if we keep increasing the external
field around a ferromagnetic material?

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Magnetic Materials
Magnetization curve

A “magnetization curve” a graph of

magnetization M as a function of external
magnetic field B0 for soft iron.
As the external field is increased, a point is
eventually reached at which nearly all the
magnetic moments in the ferromagnetic
material are aligned parallel to the external
field.
This condition is called saturation
magnetization. After it is reached,
further increase in the external field causes
no increase in magnetization or in the
additional field caused by the
magnetization.

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 Magnetic Materials
Magnetization curve

The magnetization curve for increasing and decreasing the magnetic field
can be different for many ferromagnetic materials. Even when the field is
removed, some magnetization remains. This behavior is characteristic of
permanent magnets, which retain most of their saturation magnetization
when the magnetizing field is removed.

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 Magnetic Materials
Hysteresis

To reduce the magnetization to zero requires a magnetic field in the

reverse direction. This behavior is called hysteresis, and the curves
called hysteresis loops. Magnetizing and demagnetizing a material that
has hysteresis involve the dissipation of energy, and the temperature of
the material increases during the process.

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 Magnetic Materials
Hysteresis

The materials of both (a) and (b) remain strongly magnetized when B0
is reduced to zero.
Since (a) is also hard to demagnetize, it would be good for
permanent magnets.
Since (b) magnetizes and demagnetizes more easily, it could be used
as a computer memory material.
The material of (c) would be useful for transformers and other
alternating-current devices where zero hysteresis would be optimal.
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 Magnetic Materials
Uses

Ferromagnetic materials are widely used in electromagnets,

transformer cores, and motors and generators, in which it is desirable
to have as large a magnetic field as possible for a given current.
Because hysteresis dissipates energy, materials that are used in these
applications should usually have as narrow a hysteresis loop as
possible. Soft iron is often used; it has high permeability without
appreciable hysteresis.
For permanent magnets a broad hysteresis loop is usually desirable,
with large zero-field magnetization and large reverse field needed to
demagnetize. Many kinds of steel and many alloys, such as Alnico,
are commonly used for permanent magnets. The remaining
magnetic field in such a material, after it has been magnetized to
near saturation, is typically of the order of 1 T, corresponding to a
remaining magnetization M = Bµ0 of about 800, 000 A/m.

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