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1 Concept of a magnetic field
Some of the properties of magnets have been known for many centuries.
The ancient Greeks discovered an iron ore called lodestone which, when hung from
a thread, would come to rest always pointing in the same direction. This was the
basis of the magnetic compass which has been in use since about 1500bce as a means
of navigation.
The magnetic compass is dependent on the fact that a freely suspended magnet will
come to rest pointing north–south. The ends of the magnet are said to be poles.
Th pole pointing to the north is referred to as the north-seeking pole (the north pole
or N-pole) and the other, the south-seeking pole (the south pole or S-pole). It is now
known that a compass behaves in this way because the Earth is itself a magnet.
Magnets exert forces on each other. These forces of either attraction or repulsion are
used in many children’s toys, in door catches and ‘fridge magnets’. The effects of the
forces may be summarised in the law of magnets.
Like poles repel.
Unlike poles attract.
The law of magnets implies that around any magnet, there is a region where a magnetic
pole will experience a force. This region is known as a magnetic field.
A magnetic field is a region of space where a magnetic pole experiences a force.
Magnetic fields are not visible but they may be represented by lines of magnetic force
or magnetic field lines. We will return later in this topic to a fuller understanding of
how the density or relative spacing of the field lines can be related to a quantity called
magnetic ‘flux’. A simple way of imagining magnetic field lines is to think of one such
line as the direction in which a free magnetic north pole would move if placed in the
field. Magnetic field lines may be plotted using a small compass (a plotting compass) or
by the use of iron filings and a compass (Figure 20.1).
Figure 20.1 The iron filings line up with the magnetic field of the bar magnet which is
under the sheet of paper. A plotting compass will give the direction of the field.
482807_20_CI_AS_Phy_SB_3e_314-[Link] 315 30/05/20 8:38 PM
316 20 Magnetic fields
20
The magnetic field lines of a bar magnet are shown in Figure 20.2.
Effects due to the Earth’s magnetic field have not been included since the Earth’s field
is relatively weak and would be of significance only at some distance from the magnet.
It is important to realise that, although the magnetic field has been drawn in two
dimensions, the actual magnetic field is three-dimensional.
For any magnetic field:
» the magnetic field lines start at a north pole and end at a south pole
» the arrow on each line shows the direction in which a free magnetic north pole
would move if placed at that point on the line
» the magnetic field lines are smooth curves which never touch or cross
» the strength of the magnetic field is indicated by the closeness of the lines – the
closer the lines, the stronger the magnetic field.
It can be seen that these properties are very similar to those for electric field lines (Topic 18.1).
Figure 20.3 illustrates the magnetic field pattern between the north pole of one magnet
and the south pole of another. This pattern is similar to that produced between the poles
of a horseshoe magnet.
SN
Figure 20.3 Magnetic field pattern between a north and south pole
Figure 20.4 shows the magnetic field between the north poles of two magnets. The magnetic
field due to one magnet opposes that due to the other. The field lines cannot cross and
consequently there is a point X, known as a neutral point, where there is no resultant
magnetic field because the two fields are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.
NXN
Figure 20.4 Magnetic field pattern between two north poles
NS
Figure 20.2 Magnetic
field pattern of a bar
magnet
WORKED EXAMPLE 20A
A circular magnet is made with its north pole at