Ch 8 Magnetic Field and Magnetic Forces

PC1432
Peter Ho
Department of Physics, NUS

8.1 Magnetic field due to a moving charge

A charge q moving in space has a magnetic field. If it has a velocity v (that is much slower than the
speed of light c), this magnetic field at any point in space (called the field point) in vacuum is found
experimentally to be given by

q vxr
B= o
4 r 2

r
+q

field point: where you wish to

determine the magnetic field

[Recall: The electric field of a point

charge
.]

where,

r is the position vector of the field point from the electric charge.

r is the unit vector (dimensionless) in the direction of r .

r2 is the square of the distance between the charge and the location of
interest.

v is the velocity of the charge.

o
= 1x107 T m A1 (by definition)
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where o is the permeability of free space, equal to 4 x 107 T m A1

by definition.
[Later, you will see that 1 T m A1 can also be written as 1 H m1]

Side view

A uniformly moving electric charge is thus surrounded by a magnetic

field, in addition to its electric field.

v
+q
End view

This magnetic field has the following properties:

(i) The magnetic field lines are circles centred on the line of motion
and lie on planes perpendicular to the line of motion.

Notation:
X = going into plane
= coming out of the plane

(ii) These lines have a sense given by the right-hand screw rule. Let
your right-hand thumb point in the direction of charge motion
corresponding to the conventional current, your curled fingers will
give the sense of the encircling magnetic field lines.
(iii) The B magnitude decays as 1/r2 away from the charge (just as
its electric field).
(iv) The B magnitude is proportional to the product of the speed of
the charge and the magnitude of the charge.

If the charge is accelerating, or moving near to the speed of light, the field lines get distorted. We
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won't study those cases here.

Example. Forces between two moving charges in vacuum

(i) Two protons are moving on separate paths separated by distance d, parallel to each other, and in
the same direction, and at the same speed v (<< c). Deduce the expression for the interaction force
between them.

Step 1. Identify the physics involved.

Step 2. Set up the cartesian axes.
Step 3. Sketch a diagram, and mark the fields and forces.
Step 4. Perform the calculation.

(ii) If these two protons are moving in opposite directions to each other but in still on parallel paths,
deduce the expression for the interaction force at the instant when they pass each other.

 If the magnetic field to be evaluated is not in vacuum but in some material medium, you only
need to replace o by or, where r is the relative permeability of the material. This r takes into
account the magnetisation of the material which may either reduce the magnetic field (if r < 1) or
enhance the field (if r > 1).
Selected r values of some materials:
Material
Copper
Silver
Aluminium
Platinum
Nickel
Steel
Iron
Permalloy (Ni-Fe)
Mu-metal (Ni-Fe-Cu-Mo)

= 0.99999
r
11.0x105 diamagnetic materials
12.6x105
1+2.2x105 paramagnetic materials
1+26x105
100
700
ferromagnetic materials
4,000
8,000
20,000

Thus except for ferromagnetic materials (which have r >> 1), the rest of the materials have r
practically equal to 1.000, and so r can be neglected.
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8.2 Magnetic field due to a current element

dq vxr
The magnetic field in vacuum due to a moving charge element dq is dB = o

4 r 2

As before, let us write dq v = I d

We get the BiotSavart law

I d xr
dB = o
4 r 2

r
I
d

field point

current element

where,

r is the position vector of the field point from the current element.
r is the unit vector (dimensionless) in the direction of r .

r2 is the square of the distance between the current element and the
location
of interest.

d is the length of the current element, with direction given by the

conventional current.
I is the magnitude of the conventional current.
The gives the magnetic field (at the field point) that is contributed by the current element.
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Every current element gives its own B field contribution to the field point. According to the
superposition principle, the net B field is simply the sum of all these contributions. Each B field
contribution is a vector, and so the sum is a vector sum.
Therefore the net magnetic field generated by a current segment is given by the line integration
of the Biot-Savart law over that current segment.

B = dB =

line

integral to sum up all

the magnetic field
contributions to the
field point

o I d xr
4 r 2
line integral to sum up the
magnetic field contribution of
all the elements in the current
line segment

In special cases with simplifying symmetries, this can be solved by pencil and paper. In
general, you need a computer to solve this integration.
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8.3 What is the magnetic field of a current in a infinite straight conductor?

I

B field contribution by
current element:

I d xr
dB = o
4 r 2

field point

current
element

Note:

x
sin =
r 2 1/ 2
2
r = (x + y )

Set up the coordinate system as shown. Then

apply BiotSavart law,

o I d xr

B=
4
line
In the coordinate system used, d = dy

r2

Look for simplifying symmetry. Art the field point

marked on the xy-plane (see diagram)

d xr is in the direction of k , perpendicular to the xyplane and pointing away from you. This direction does
not depend on the location of the current element.

Therefore integration of the vector cross-product

simplifies into integration of a scalar quantity representing
the magnitude of the vector whose direction is constant,

Step 1. Identify the physics involved.

Step 2. Set up the cartesian axes.
Step 3. Sketch a diagram, and mark the fields and forces.
Step 4. Look for simplifying symmetry.
Step 5. Perform the computation/ integration.
(a) identify the integration variable
(b) reduce the other variables to the integration variable

B=

y =

o I dy sin
( k )
2

4
r
y =

which becomes

B=

y =

o I dy x
( k )
2
2 3/2

4 ( x + y )
y =

The constant terms can come out of the integration sign to give

I x y =
dy
B= o
( k )
2
2 3/2

4 y = ( x + y )

From tables, e.g., S.O.S. Math, http://www.sosmath.com/tables/tables.html

y =

dy
2
= 2
you can get
2
2 3/2
(
x
y
)
x
+
y =
I
Hence B = o ( k )
2 x

This result is for the field point on the xy-plane. At other field points, the
same consideration applies. Hence the B field has cylindrical symmetry. The
field lines are concentric on the conductor with a sense given by the right-hand
screw rule, and magnitude given by

o I
B=
2 r
where r is the perpendicular distance between the conductor and
field point.

[Recall: The electric field of an infinitely long line charge

Question: What happens if the wire is not infinitely long?

.]
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Properties of this field:

(i) The magnetic field lines are circles centred on the conductor and lie on planes perpendicular to
this conductor.
(ii) These lines have a sense given by the right-hand screw rule. Let your right-hand thumb point in
the direction of the corresponding conventional current, your four naturally curled fingers will give
the sense of the encircling magnetic field lines.
(iii) The magnetic field magnitude decays as 1/r away from the current (which is slower than 1/r2 )
(iv) The magnetic field magnitude is proportional to the current.

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Example. Magnetic field due to a single long wire

A long, straight conductor carriers a current of 1.0 A. Compute the magnetic field at a distance of
1.0 m from the wire.

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8.4 Magnetic force between currents in parallel conductors

Magnetic force experienced by a current length 2
in wire 2 in the presence of a magnetic field B1 set up
by a current in wire 1 is given by

F2 = I 2 2 xB1

force on current 2

magnetic field set

up by current 1

B1
1
2

The magnetic field set up by current1 has magnitude given by

B1 =

I1
d

I2

F2

o I1
2 d

and direction given by the right-hand screw rule. This will be perpendicular to the current in wire 2.
Therefore

F2 =

o I1 I 2 2
2 d

You can check: (i) The force that the current in wire 2 exerts on current in wire 1 is equal and
opposite to the force that current in wire 1 exerts on that in wire 2.
(ii) The force is attractive if the two currents are in the same direction, and repulsive if they are
in the opposite direction.
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Example. Magnetic force between two parallel currents

Compute the force per unit length between two infinite straight conductors carrying 1.0 A of
current in the opposite directions.
Solution:
2
F o I 2
7
1 (1A)
=
= 2x10 TmA
= 2x10 7 TA = 2x10 7 (NA 1m 1 ) A = 2x10 7 Nm 1
1m
2 d

This result is used to define the ampere: 1 A is the current which if present in two parallel
conductors of infinite length separated by 1 m in air will cause each conductor to experience a
force of exactly 2x107 N per unit length of the conductor.

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8.5 Magnetic field of a circular current loop (on-axis)

y
current
element

I
Note:

dB =

r2

Look for simplifying symmetry. At the field point marked on the

loop

axis (see diagram),

r
d xr gives a vector that lies on the xy-plane. This can be resolved

into the axial dB // and perpendicular components. The perpendicular

dB //
component will be cancelled by the B field contributed by the current
x
field point element on the opposite side of the loop. Therefore by symmetry only
the axial component survives. This component has magnitude given
dB
o I d
by

a
r 2 1/ 2
2
r = (x + a )

cos =

Set up the coordinate system

as shown. Then apply Biot
Savart law, o I d xr

dB // =

4 r

cos

Integrating over the entire current loop,

B // =

o I d
loop 4 r 2 cos

which simplifies to

B // =

o I a d
4 ( x 2 + a 2 ) 3 / 2
loop

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B // =

o
I a
d
2
2 3/2
4 ( x + a ) loop

which integrates to B // =

o
I a
2a
2
2 3/2
4 ( x + a )

o I
a2
Thus B // =
2 ( x 2 + a 2 )3 / 2
The direction of this magnetic field is again given by the righthand screw rule: wrap the four fingers along the loop in the
direction of the conventional current flow, then the thumb points in
the direction of the axial magnetic field.
Qn: Where is the north of this magnetic dipole?
At the centre of the loop, x = 0, B // =

o I
2a

B
I

B
I

If the current coil is made of N tightly-packed turns,

superposition of the contributions of each turn gives at the
centre of the coil,

B // =

o I N
2a

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8.6 Ampere's law

For a steady-state electric current distribution, the integral of B d evaluated along any closedloop integration
path is given by the algebraic sum of the currents enclosed by the loop Iencl. Let us
call the B d integral the magnetic circulation. The sense of this magnetic circulation is related
to the sense of Iencl by the right-hand screw rule. For vacuum, this law is written as,

B d = o Iencl

loop

The enclosed current is given by the net current

that crosses any surface bounded by the loop.

This is a dot product given by B d =| B | | d | cos

B d = o I1

Examples:

loop

B d = 0

loop

B d = o (I1 I2 )

Zero here does not

mean that B = 0, only
the integral is zero.

loop

I1

I2

B d = o (I2 I1 )

loop

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8.6 Applications of Ampere's law

Ampere's law can be quite useful to compute the magnetic field of highly symmetrical current
distributions.
Procedure:
Step 1. Select the integration path so that the magnetic field has a simple form by symmetry.
Step 2. Perform the integration to evaluate the magnetic field.

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Example. Magnetic field inside a long cylindrical conductor

A cylindrical non-magnetic conductor of radius R carries a current I uniformly distributed over its
cross-sectional area (NB: This can be true only for dc currents. For ac currents, there is a skin
effect which results in current being concentrated at the surface). Compute the magnetic field as a
function of distance r from the axis of the conductor.
Select integration path. By symmetry the magnetic field lines
r
must be circular and concentric on the axis of the conductor. You
also know this from the BiotSavart calculations. Therefore we

choose concentric circular integration paths here.

X BX
X
X X
X X X
Apply Ampere's law inside the conductor (r < R),
X X X

X X X
B d = o Iencl
X X

Thus B =

loop

o I r
2
2 R

r2
which gives B 2 r = o I 2
R
(inside the conductor with uniform current)

Inside the conductor, the magnetic field increases linearly towards the surface.
Apply Amperes law outside the conductor (r > R),

B 2 r = o I
which gives B =

o I
2 r

(outside the conductor, same as by integration of Biot-Savart law)

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Example. Magnetic field inside a long solenoid

Select integration path. We already know from the
Biot-Savart law that the B field of a current loop in the
centre of the loop lies in the axial direction and has its
direction given by the right-hand screw rule.
By symmetry, for an infinitely long solenoid of n turns
per unit length, the magnetic field everywhere inside
the solenoid must also lie in the axial direction.
Outside the infinite solenoid, the magnetic field is zero.
Therefore we choose a rectangular integration path
with one side aligned to the axial direction as shown.

B=0

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X
B

n turns per unit length

B
I

Apply Amperes law,

B d = o Iencl

loop

B = o I n

Hence B = o I n

enclosed current is current times

number of enclosed turns

By symmetry, the B field inside the

solenoid lies in the axial direction.

(magnetic field inside a long solenoid)

This field is uniform everywhere inside the solenoid, and depends

only on current and the number of turns per unit length, and not on
the number of turns itself.

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Summary
What you need to be able to do:
(a) Compute or derive the magnetic field due to a moving electrical charge or electrical current using
the BiotSavart law, and hence the magnetic force on other moving electrical charge or electrical
current.
(b) Compute or derive the magnetic field of a steady-state current distribution using Ampere's law.

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