MAGNETISM RELATED PHENOMENA

1
 MAGNETIC FIELD
IN ORDER TO START GETTING AN IDEA ABOUT THE MAGNETIC FIELD LET US DESCRIBE A TYPICAL PHENOMENON
RELATED TO THE PRESENCE OF A MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD (i.e. A MAGNETIC FIELD THAT DOES NOT VARY WITH TIME)
WE HAVE A LONG STRAIGHT NEUTRAL WIRE IN WHICH A DC CURRENT FLOWS. IF A POSITIVE (NEGATIVE) POINT
CHARGE IS PLACED NEARBY, WE OBSERVE DIFFERENT BEHAVIORS FOLLOWING THE CHARGE SITUATION:
1) IF THE CHARGE IS NOT MOVING NOTHING HAPPENS: THE CHARGE REMAINS STANDING STILL
2) IF THE CHARGE MOVES PARALLEL TO THE WIRE IN THE SAME DIRECTION OF THE CURRENT, A FORCE PULLS THE
CHARGE TOWARDS (PUSHES THE CHARGE FARTHER FROM) THE WIRE
3) IF THE CHARGE MOVES PARALLEL TO THE WIRE IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION TO THE CURRENT, A FORCE
PUSHES THE CHARGE FARTHER FROM (PULLS THE CHARGE TOWARDS) THE WIRE
4) IF THE CHARGE MOVES TOWARDS THE WIRE A FORCE PUSHES THE CHARGE IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION TO
THE CURRENT (PUSHES THE CHARGE IN THE SAME DIRECTION OF THE CURRENT)
5) IF THE CHARGE MOVES FARTHER FROM THE WIRE A FORCE PUSHES THE CHARGE IN THE SAME DIRECTION OF
THE CURRENT (PUSHES THE CHARGE IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION TO THE CURRENT)
2 𝐹Ԧ 𝐹Ԧ 4 𝑣Ԧ
𝑣Ԧ
q>0 1 𝑣Ԧ
𝐹Ԧ 𝑣Ԧ 3 5 𝐹Ԧ
I
2 𝑣Ԧ 𝐹Ԧ 𝑣Ԧ 𝐹Ԧ 5
q<0 1
𝐹Ԧ 𝑣Ԧ 3 4 𝐹Ԧ 𝑣Ԧ
2
 LORENTZ FORCE

TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THAT IF NO CURRENT FLOWS IN THE WIRE NOTHING HAPPENS, WE CAN SUMMARIZE THE
DISCUSSION OF THE PREVIOUS SLIDE AS FOLLOWS (WITH A FEW ADDITONAL INPUT FROM EXPERIMENTS):
- A DC CURRENT AFFECTS THE MOTION OF A CHARGE BY APPLYING A FORCE ON IT
- THE FORCE IS PERPENDICULAR TO THE VELOCITY OF THE CHARGE
- THE INTENSITY OF THE FORCE ACTING ON THE CHARGE HAS ITS HIGHEST VALUE WHEN THE CHARGE MOVES
PARALLEL OR PERPENDICULAR TO THE WIRE
- IF THE DC CURRENT INCREASES (AND CHARGE VALUE AND VELOCITY REMAIN UNCHANGED) THE FORCE
INCREASES
- IF THE CHARGE VALUE INCREASES (AND DC CURRENT AND CHARGE VELOCITY REMAIN UNCHANGED) THE FORCE
INCREASES
AS FORCE AND VELOCITY ARE VECTORS, IN ORDER TO PROPERLY QUANTIFY EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCES, WE NEED TO:
- INTRODUCE A VECTOR RELATED TO THE DC CURRENT EFFECT IN THE VARIOUS POINTS OF SPACE (i.e. A FIELD)
- WORK OUT A CROSS PRODUCT BETWEEN THIS VECTOR AND THE CHARGE VELOCITY THAT PROPERLY DESCRIBES ALL
FINDINGS

THE FIELD GENERATED IN SPACE BY A DC CURRENT THAT WILL LEAD TO A FORCE

APPLIED TO A MOVING CHARGE IS CALLED ‘MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD’ (𝐁) AND THE 𝐅Ԧ = 𝐪 𝐯 ∧ 𝐁
FORCE THIS FIELD APPLY ON A MOVING CHARGE IS CALLED LORENTZ FORCE

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 ORIENTATION OF THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD

IF WE LOOK AT ALL EXAMPLES OF SLIDE 2, WE SEE THAT IN ORDER TO GET THE APPROPRIATE ORIENTATION OF THE
FORCE, THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD MUST BE ORIENTED OUTWARDS, PERPENDICULAR TO THE SCREEN.

THIS IS A GENERAL RULE, THAT CAN BE STATED IN DIFFERENT WAYS, CORRELATING DC CURRENT DIRECTION AND
MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD ORIENTATION. CHECK THE FIGURES FOR THE VARIOUS THUMB RULES

RIGHT
HAND

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 LORENTZ FORCE AND CHARGE MOTION

THE LORENTZ FORCE TELLS US THAT A FORCE WILL ACT ON A MOVING CHARGE 𝐅Ԧ = 𝐦 𝐚 = 𝐪 𝐯 ∧ 𝐁
BECAUSE OF ITS INTERACTION WITH A MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD. AS A FORCE APPLIED
𝒒
ON A FREE TO MOVE OBJECT CAUSES ITS ACCELERATION, THE CHARGE WILL 𝐚= 𝐯 ∧𝐁
ACCELERATE. THE PECULIARITY OF LORENTZ FRCE IS THAT, BEING THE ACCELERATION 𝒎
PARALLEL TO THE FORCE, IT WILL ALWAYS BE PERPENDICULAR TO THE VELOCITY 𝐚⊥𝐯

𝐯 ∧𝐁
IN DETERMINING THE ORIENTATION OF
𝐁 EXITS THE SCREEN
THE FORCE, CARE HAS TO BE TAKEN IN 𝐯
CONSIDERING THE SIGN OF THE CHARGE,
AS IT PLAYS A ROLE IN DETERMINING THE
ORINETATION FO THE FORCE 𝐁 𝐁 ENTERS THE SCREEN

IF A CHARGE ENTERS AT A CERTAIN VELOCITY 𝐯 IN A REGION OF SPACE WHERE A UNIFORM MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD 𝐁
EXIST, 3 DIFFERENT SITUATIONS CAN OCCUR (HYPOTHESIS: NO OTHER FORCES ACT ON THE CHARGE):
1) 𝐯 IS PARALLEL TO 𝐁: THE LORENTZ FORCE IS ZERO: THE CHARGE WILL KEEP MOVING WITH THE SAME 𝐯
2) 𝐯 IS PERPENDICULAR TO 𝐁: THE ACCELERATION IS PERPENDICULAR TO 𝐯
3) 𝐯 IS NEITHER PARALLEL NOR PERPENDICULAR TO 𝐁: THE ACCELERATION EXIST BUT IS NOT PERPENDICULAR TO 𝐯

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 LORENTZ FORCE AND CIRCULAR MOTION
𝒚
WE FOCUS NOW ON CASE 2, WHERE THE VELOCITY IS PERPENDICULAR TO THE FIELD
(SEE FIGURE: FIELD IS ORIENTED OUTWARDS). THE PARTICLE HAVING CHARGE q AND
MASS m ENTERS THE REGION IN WHICH THE FIELD IS PRESENT AT POINT O. 𝐯
𝒙
𝑶
USING THE 3-d CARTESIAN COORDINATE SYSTEM DRAWN IN THE FIGURE (Z-AXIS EXITING THE
SLIDE) AND INTRODUCING THE USUAL UNIT VECTORS FOR THE COORDINATES, WE CAN WRITE
𝐯 = 𝒗 𝐮𝒙 𝐁 = 𝑩 𝐮𝒛 𝐯 ∧ 𝐁 = 𝑣 u𝑥 ∧ 𝐵 u𝑧 = 𝑣 𝐵 u𝑥 ∧ u𝑧 = 𝒗 𝑩 (− 𝐮𝒚 )
THE FORCE IS THEN PARALLEL TO Y-AXIS. HOWEVER ITS ORIENTATION DEPENDS ON THE SIGN OF THE CHARGE
q>0 𝐅Ԧ = 𝐪 𝐯 ∧ 𝐁 = 𝒒 𝒗 𝑩 (− 𝐮𝒚 ) ORIENTED DOWNWARDS

q = - |q| < 0 𝐅Ԧ = 𝐪 𝐯 ∧ 𝐁 = − 𝒒 𝒗 𝑩 − 𝐮𝒚 = 𝒒 𝒗 𝑩 𝐮𝒚 ORIENTED UPWARDS

THE ACCELERATION DUE TO THE LORENTZ FORCE IS (i) PARALLEL (AND CONCORDANT) TO THE FORCE AND (ii)
PERPENDICULAR TO THE VELOCITY. BEING PERPENDICULAR TO THE VELOCITY, THE ACCELERATION
- MODIFIES THE DIRECTION OF THE VELOCITY VECTOR
- DOES NOT MODIFY THE MODULUS OF THE VECTOR (i.e. THE SPEED INTENSITY REMAINS CONSTANT)
AS THE SPEED CHANGES DIRECTIONS THE ACCELERATION REMAINS PEPRENDICULAR TO THE NEW SPEED DIRECTION.
WE HAVE A MOTION IN WHICH:
- THE SPEED VALUE IS CONSTANT
- THE ACCELERATION IS CONSTANT IN MODULUS AND ALWAYS PERPENDICULAR TO THE VELOCITY
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 LORENTZ FORCE AND CIRCULAR MOTION

WE KNOW FROM OUR KINEMATIC STUDIES THAT THIS CHARACTERISTICS DESCRIBE A UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION. AS
THE PATH IS A CIRCLE, IT IS WORTH EVALUATING ITS RADIUS R. TO THIS PURPOSE WE NOTICE THAT:
- TO MAINTAIN THE CHARGE ON A CIRCULAR MOTION WE NEED A CENTRIPETAL FORCE FC
- THE CENTRIPETAL FORCE IN THE PRESENT CASE IS PROVIDED BY THE LORENTZ FORCE FL
v2 v2 𝒎𝒗
FC = m FL = |q| v B FL = FC m = |q| v B 𝑹=
R R |𝒒| 𝑩

OTHER PHYSICAL QUANTITIES OF INTEREST IN A CIRCULAR

MOTION ARE THE PERIOD T AND THE ANGULAR SPEED 
𝟐𝛑𝐑 𝟐𝛑𝐦 𝟐 𝛑 |𝐪| 𝐁
𝟐𝛑𝐑=𝐯𝐓 𝐓= = 𝛚= =
𝐯 |𝐪| 𝐁 𝐓 𝐦

ONE INTERESTING POINT IS THAT, BEING LORENTZ FORCE AND VELOCITY ALWAYS PERPENDICULAR, THE POWER
TRANSFERRED FROM THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD IS ALWAYS ZERO ! NO WORK IS DONE BY A MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD ! AS
A MATTER OF FACT, AS THE SPEED OF THE CHARGE IS CONSTANT, ITS KINETIC ENERGY WILL NOT VARY BECAUSE OF THE
LORENTZ FORCE
𝑷 = 𝐅Ԧ ∙ 𝐯 = 𝐪 𝐯 ∧ 𝐁 ∙ 𝐯 = 𝟎

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 MASS SPECTROMETER AND CYCLOTRON

THE LORENTZ FOREC IS EXPLOITED IN TWO SYSTEMS THAT ARE AIMED TO: 𝒎𝒗
- ACCELERATE CHARGED PARTICLES (CYCLOTRON) 𝑹=
|𝒒| 𝑩
- IDENTIFY THE ELEMENT CARRYING THE CHARGE (MASS SPECTROMETER)

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 LORENTZ FORCE ON A WIRE IN WHICH A DC CURRENT FLOWS

AS A DC CURRENT IS MADE OF MOVING CHARGES, IF A MAGNETIC FIELD IS PRESENT AND dV = S dL

PROPERLY ORIENTED WITH RESPECT TO THE WIRE, A FORCE WILL ACT ON THE MOVING dL
CHARGES THAT COMPOSE THE DC CURRENT. HOWEVER, AS THE CHARGES ARE PART OF A SOLID I
S dV
THAT CANNOT LEAVE, THE FORCES EXERTED ON EVERY SINGLE CHARGE PILE UP TO FORM A
TOTAL FORCE EXERTED ON THE SOLID. WE CAN USE LORENTZ FORCE TO EVALUATE SUCH FORCE. u𝐿

LET US CONSIDER A POSITIVE CHARGE CURRENT, EACH CHARGE HAVING

𝐅Ԧ = 𝐪 𝐯 ∧ 𝐁
VALUE q. A LORENTZ FORCE WILL ACT ON EACH OF THE CHARGES
IN THE VOLUME dV OF THE WIRE (SEE DASHED CYLINDER IN FIGURE) A NUMBER dN = n dV OF MOVING CHARGES IS
PRESENT. EACH OF THEM MOVES AT THE SAME SPEED 𝐯 SO THAT THE TOTAL FORCE ACTING ON THE VOLUME IS
𝒅𝐅Ԧ = 𝐝𝐪 𝐯 ∧ 𝐁 = 𝒒 𝒏 𝒅𝑽 𝐯 ∧ 𝐁 = 𝒒 𝒏 𝑺 𝒅𝑳 𝐯 ∧ 𝐁
TO COMPLETE OUR DISCUSSION, WE REMIND THAT Ԧ𝐣 = 𝐧 𝐪 𝐯 AND THE ELECTRICAL CURRENT IN THE PRESENT
GEOMETRY IS GIVEN BY I = j S = q n v S
BY INTRODUCING THE UNIT VECTOR u𝐿 WE CAN WRITE 𝐯 = 𝑣 u𝐿 𝐝𝐋 = 𝑑𝐿 u𝐿 SO THAT
𝐝𝐅Ԧ = q n S dL v uL ∧ B = 𝐈 𝐝𝐋 ∧ 𝐁
THIS RELATIONSHIP DESCRIBES THE FORCE ACTING ON AN INFINITESIMALLY LONG PIECE OF WIRE IN WHICH A DC
CURRENT FLOWS BECAUSE OF ITS INTERACTION WITH A MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD
EXERCISE VERIFY THAT THE SAME RELATIONSHIP HOLDS IF THE DC CURRENT IS DUE TO NEGATIVE CHARGES
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 HALL EFFECT

AN OTHER PHENOMENON OF INTEREST RELATED TO LORENTZ FORCE IS THE ‘HALL EFFECT’. IT ALLOWS TO CHECK IF THE
CURRENT IS CARRIED BY NEGATIVE OR POSITIVE CHARGES AND IS ALSO USED IN APPLICATIONS, SUCH AS SENSORS, ...
WE TAKE A STRIP OF WIRE OF LENGTH L AND WIDTH d IN WHICH A DC CURRENT FLOWS IN THE DIRECTION OF THE
LENGTH. IF WE PLACE SUCH A STRIP IN A PROPERLY ORIENTED MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD (SEE FIGURES) A FORCE WILL ACT
ON THE CHARGES PERPENDICULAR TO THE DC CURRENT DIRECTION.

𝐸
𝐸

AS THE FORCE ACTS DOWNWARDS IRRESPECTIVE OF THE SIGN OF THE CHARGE, WE WILL HAVE ACCUMULATION OF
THE CHARGES THAT MOVES WITH THE CURRENT ON THE LOWER FACE.
FOR NEGATIVE CHARGES (CASE a) WE HAVE A (LEFT BEHIND) POSITIVE CHARGE ON THE UPPER FACE AND AN
ACCUMULATION OF NEGATIVE CHARGES ON THE LOWER FACE, LEADING TO A DOWNARD ORIENTED ELECTRIC FIELD.
FOR POSITIVE CHARGES (CASE b) WE HAVE A (LEFT BEHIND) NEGATIVE CHARGE ON THE UPPER FACE AND AN
ACCUMULATION OF POSITIVE CHARGES ON THE LOWER FACE, LEADING TO AN UPWARD ORIENTED ELECTRIC FIELD.
THE POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN THE UPPER AND THE LOWER FACES WILL HAVE DIFFERENT SIGNS FOLLOWING
THE SIGN OF THE MOVING CHARGES (HALL EFFECT ALSO ALLOW TO QUANTIFY THE VALUE OF THE CHARGE DENSITY)
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 MAGNETIC NEEDLES

A MAGNETIC NEEDLE IS NEEDLE-SHAPED OBJECT MADE OF A

FERROMAGNETIC MATERIAL. IT IS SENSITIVE TO THE MAGNETIC
FIELD. IN FACT, IF A MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD IS PRESENT, THE NEEDLES
FINDS ITS EQUILIBRIUM BY PLACING ITSELF PARALLEL TO THE FIELD.

IF WE PLACE A MAGNETIC NEEDLE, FREE TO ROTATE, IN PRESENCE

OF THE EARTH MAGNETIC FIELD, ITS ORIENTATION WILL DEPEND
ON THE LOCAL ORIENTATION OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD

IF WE INITIALLY DIRECT THE NEEDLE IN A DIRECTION

NOT PARALLEL TO THE FIELD, IT:
- DOES NOT UNDERGO TRANSLATION
- IT ROTATES UNTIL IT IS ALIGNED WITH THE FIELD

THIS BEHAVIOUR IS VERY SIMILAR TO THAT WE OBSERVED WHEN WE PLACED ELECTRIC DIPOLES IN AN UNIFORM
ELECTROSTATIC FIELD. IN THAT CASE WE DEFINED AN ELECTRIC DIPOLE MOMENT 𝒑 AND WE WERE ABLE TO EVALUATE:
- THE TORQUE 𝝉 ACTING ON THE DIPOLE, LEADING TO ITS ORIENTATION IN THE DIRECTION OF THE FIELD
- THE ELECTROSTATIC ENERGY U OF THE DIPOLE DUE TO ITS INTERACTION WITH THE FIELD

𝛕=𝐩∧𝐄 𝑼= −𝐩∙𝐄
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 MAGNETIC DIPOLES

AN ELECTRIC DIPOLE IS MADE OF TWO RIGIDLY CONNECTED CHARGES HAVING THE SAME VALUE AND OPPOSITE SIGN.
IN THE CASE OF MAGNETISM, AS WE SHALL SEE IN DETAIL LATER, WE
- CALL POLES THE PART OF A NEEDLE (CUSTOMARILY THE TERM NORTH AND SOUTH ARE USED TO LABEL THE POLES,
INSTEAD OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE)
- WE CAN INTRODUCE THE CONCEPT OF ‘MAGNETIC DIPOLE’ TO DESCRIBE THE MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF THE NEEDLE

A MAGNETIC DIPOLE IS MADE OF TWO POLES OF OPPOSITE NAMES. IT HAS A MAGNETIC DIPOLE MOMENT 𝝁 (𝒎):
- WITH THE ORIENTATION FROM THE SOUTH POLE TO THE NORTH POLE
- WITH AN INTENSITY DEFINED BY (i) THE TYPE OF MATERIAL AND (ii) THE MASS OF MATERIAL IN THE NEEDLE

THIS BEHAVIOUR IS VERY SIMILAR TO THAT WE OBSERVED WHEN WE PLACED ELECTRIC DIPOLES IN AN UNIFORM
ELECTROSTATIC FILED. BY INTRODUCING THE MAGNETIC DIPOLE MOMENT, WE ARE ABLE TO EXPLOIT THE ANALOGY
WITH THE ELECTRIC DIPOLE BEHAVIOUR, EVALUATING
- THE TORQUE 𝝉 ACTING ON THE DIPOLE, LEADING TO ITS ORIENTATION IN THE DIRECTION OF THE FIELD
- THE ELECTROSTATIC ENERGY U OF THE DIPOLE DUE TO ITS INTERACTION WITH THE FIELD
𝛕= 𝐦∧𝐁 𝑼= −𝐦∙𝐁
BECAUSE THE FORMULAE FOR THE ELECTRIC DIPOLE AND THE MAGNETIC DIPOLE HAVE THE SAME STRUCTURE, WE CAN
‘RECYCLE’ THE DISCUSSION WE MADE FOR ELECTRIC DIPOLES BEHAVIOUR IN LECTURE 02 SLIDE 9 ABOUT STABLE AND
UNSTABLE EQUILIBRIUM ORIENTATION OF THE DIPOLE.

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 THE MAGNETIC DIPOLE IN AN EXTERNAL MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD

SUMMARISING, WHEN A MAGENTIC DIPOLE IS PLACED IN AN EXTERNAL UNIFORM MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD, IT WILL
HAVE A MAGNETIC ENERGY 𝐔 = − 𝒎 ∙ 𝑩 WHILE A TORQUE 𝛕 = 𝒎 ∧ 𝑩 WILL ACT ON IT

WE REMIND THAT A PHYSICAL SYSTEM IS IN EQUILIBRIUM WHEN ITS POTENTIAL ENERGY HAS ITS MINIMUM (STABLE
EQUILIBRIUM) OR MAXIMUM (UNSTABLE EQUILIBRIUM) VALUE. LET’S CHECK WHAT HAPPENS FOR THE DIPOLE

𝑩 𝒎 𝑩
𝑩 𝑩
𝑩 𝒎 𝒎
𝒎
𝒎

𝐔 = −𝒎 𝑩 𝛕=𝟎 𝐔=𝟎 |𝛕| = 𝒎 𝑩 𝐔= 𝒎𝑩 𝛕=𝟎

𝐔 = − 𝒎 ∙ 𝑩 = −𝒎 𝑩 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝛝

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 HOW CAN WE GENERATE A MAGNETIC FIELD ?
UNTIL NOW WE HAVE DISCUSSED THE ISSUE: WHAT HAPPENS IF A
MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD IS PRESENT ? IT IS NOW TIME TO ADDRESS THE
OTHER KEY QUESTION: HOW CAN A MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD BE GENERATED ?

TO PROVE WHAT WE ARE GOING TO STATE, A MUCH DEEPER

DISCUSSION ABOUT ELECTROMAGNETISM AND ELECTRODYNAMICS 𝐮𝒓
WILL BE NEEDED. HERE WE SIMPLY STATE THAT: A MOVING CHARGE
Q GENERATES BOTH A MAGNETIC AND AN ELECTRIC FIELD. THE
ELECTRIC FIELD IS GIVEN BY THE USUAL RELATIONSHIP WHILE THE
MAGNETIC FIELD IS GIVEN BY THE EXPRESSION
𝟏 𝑸 𝝁𝟎 𝑸 𝐯 ∧ 𝐮𝒓
𝐄= 𝐮 𝐁= 𝐁 = 𝝐𝟎 𝝁𝟎 𝐯 ∧ 𝐄
𝟒 𝝅 𝝐 𝟎 𝒓𝟐 𝒓 𝟒𝝅 𝒓𝟐

THE MAGNETIC FIELD: 𝐮𝒓

- IS PERPENDICULAR TO THE PLANE CONTAINING THE VELOCITY
AND THE ELECTRIC FIELD GENERATED BY THE CHARGE
- FADES WITH THE SQUARE OF THE DISTANCE FROM THE CHARGE
- IS CLEARLY RELATED TO THE ELECTRIC FIELD, AS BOTH ARE
GENERATED BY A CHARGE AND THEIR INTENSITY IS RELATED

[B] = T TESLA 0 = 4  10-7 T m / A

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 WHICH IS MORE INTENSE ? 𝐄 OR 𝐁
FIRST OF ALL WE POINT OUT THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO COMPARE TWO DIFFERENT PHYSICAL QUANTITIES. HENCE
COMPARING THE VALUES OF E AND B DOES NOT HAVE A PHYSICAL MEANING. HOWEVER BOTH E AND B WILL GENERATE
A FORCE ON A CHARGE. HENCE WE CAN COMPARE THE INTENISTIES OF THE FORCES GENERATED BY THEM

TO PROCEED IN THIS DIRECTION, WE CONSIDER TWO CHARGES (Q AND q) MOVING WITH THE Q 𝐯
SAME VELOCITY 𝐯. WE FOCUS ON THE FORCE ON CHARGE q DUE TO THE FIELDS GENERATED BY
CHARGE Q. CHARGE Q GENERATES IN THE POINT WHERE CHARGE q IS PLACED AN ELECGRIC q 𝐯
FIELD E AND A MAGNETIC FIELD B, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEM GIVEN BY
𝐁 = 𝝐 𝟎 𝝁𝟎 𝐯 ∧ 𝐄
THE FORCE DUE TO THE ELECTRIC FIELD IS ORIENTED DOWNWARDS AND HAS INTENSITY 𝑭𝑬 = 𝒒 𝑬

THE (LORENTZ) FORCE DUE TO THE MAGNETIC FIELD IS ORIENTED UPWARDS WITH INTENSITY 𝑭𝑩 = 𝒒 𝒗 𝑩

𝑭𝑩 𝒒 𝒗 𝑩 𝒒 𝒗 𝝐𝟎 𝝁𝟎 𝒗 𝑬 𝟐
𝒗𝟐
THE RATIO OF THE FORCE INTENSITIES IS = = = 𝝐 𝟎 𝝁𝟎 𝒗 = 𝟐 c = SPEED OF LIGHT IN VACUUM
𝑭𝑬 𝒒𝑬 𝒒𝑬 𝒄

AS SPEED OF LIGHT CANNOT BE REACHED BY BODIES HAVING A MASS,

- THE RATIO WILL BE ALWAYS LOWER THAN 1
- THE RATIO WILL BE MUCH LOWER THAN 1 UNLESS THE SPEED OF THE CHARGES IS CLOSER TO THE SPEED OF LIGHT
- THE FORCE DUE TO THE MAGNETIC INTERACTION WILL BE OFTEN NEGLIGIBLE COMPARED TO THE FORCE DUE TO THE
ELECTRIC INTERACTION
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 𝐁 GENERATED BY A DC CURRENT: LAPLACE LAW
IN THE PREVIOUS SLIDE WE HAVE SHOWN THAT IN MOST ‘NORMAL’ SITUATION THE EFFECTS OF THE MAGENTIC FIELD
ARE MARGINAL COMPARED TO THOSE OF AN ELECTRIC FIELD GENERATED BY THE SAME CHARGE.
HOWEVER IF WE CONSIDER A SITUATION IN WHICH WE HAVE A DC CURRENT IN A WIRE, WE NOTE THAT
- SOME CHARGES ARE MOVING
- THE WIRE IS NEUTRAL
HENCE THE ELECTRIC FIELD IN THIS SITUATION IS ZERO, WHILE THE MOVING CHARGES PRODUCE A MAGNETIC FIELD.
HENCE IF A MOVING CHARGE IS PRESENT OUTSIDE THE WIRE, IT WILL BE AFFECTED ONLY BY A LORENTZ FORCE.
IN ORDER TO EVALUATE THE MAGNETIC FIELD WE CONSIDER AN PIECE OF WIRE OF INFINITESIMAL LENGTH dL IN
WHICH A DC CURRENT I FLOWS, PRODUCED BY (i) A NUMBER OF CHARGES n PER UNIT VOLUME. (ii) EACH
HAVING CHARGE q, (iii) ALL MOVING WITH THE SAME VELOCITY 𝐯

THE AMOUNT OF MOVING CHARGE CONTAINED IN THE PIECE OF WIRE OF VOLUME dL

dV = S dL IS GIVEN BY dQ = q n dV S I
THIS CHARGE dQ, MOVING AT VELOCITY 𝐯, WILL PRODUCE A FIELD 𝒅𝐁 IN A POINT P AT A u𝐿
DISTANCE 𝐫Ԧ FROM THE INFINITESIMAL PIECE OF WIRE (FROM v TO dL : SEE SLIDE 9)
μ0 dQ v ∧ ur μ0 q n dV v ∧ ur μ0 q n S dL v uL ∧ ur
𝒅𝐁 = = = = 𝝁𝟎 𝑰 𝐝𝐋 ∧ 𝐮𝒓
4π r2 4π r2 4π r2 𝒅𝐁 =
μ0 q n v S dL uL ∧ ur 𝝁𝟎 𝑰 𝐝𝐋 ∧ 𝐮𝒓 𝟒𝝅 𝒓𝟐
= =
4π r2 𝟒𝝅 𝒓𝟐 LAPLACE LAW / BIOT-SAVART 1ST LAW 16
 EXPLOITING LAPLACE LAW
IN THE PREVIOUS SLIDE WE HAVE EVALUATED THE MAGNETIC FIELD GENERATED BY A PIECE OF WIRE IN WHICH A DC
CURRENT FLOWS. HOWEVER, IF A DC CURRENT EXIST, IT CANNOT EXIST SIMPLY IN A PIECE OF WIRE BUT A CLOSED
CIRCUIT MUST BE PRESENT. THIS MEANS THAT:
- WE WON’T BE ABLE TO MEASURE THE CONTRIBUTION OF A PIECE OF WIRE ONLY
- WE NEED TO CONSIDER THE FULL CIRCUIT TO EVALUATE THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD
IN ALL POINTS F THE CIRCUIT WE WILL HAVE THE SAME CURRENT. HENCE IF WE INDICATE
WITH  THE PATH ALONG THE CIRCUIT, WE CAN EVALUATE THE TOTAL MAGNETOSTATIC
FIELD GENERATED AT POINT P BY THE DC CURRENT THAT FLOWS IN THE CIRCUIT BY
PERFORMING THE LINE INTEGRAL
μ0 I dL ∧ ur 𝝁𝟎 𝐝𝐋 ∧ 𝐮𝒓 𝐝𝐋
𝑷
𝐁(𝑷) = ර dB = ර = 𝑰 ර 𝐫Ԧ = 𝒓 𝐮𝒓
Γ 4π r2 𝟒𝝅 Γ 𝒓𝟐

BIOT-SAVART (2ND) LAW

THIS LAW CAN BE USED TO EVALUATE A FIELD THAT CAN BE MEASURED !

WE HIGHLIGHT THAT THE INTENSITY OF THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO THE VALUE
OF THE DC CURRENT, THE COEFFICIENT OF PROPORTIONALITY AND THE DIRECTION OF THE FIELD BEING
DETERMINDED BY:
- THE SHAPE OF THE CIRCUIT Ԧ
𝐁 𝑷 = 𝑰 𝛏(𝑷)
- THE POSITION OF POINT P WITH RESPECT TO THE CIRCUIT
17
 MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD GENERATED BY A CIRCULAR LOOP
WE WANTO TO EVALUATE THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD GENERATED BY A DC
CURRENT FLOWING ALONG A CIRCULAR LOOP OF RADIUS a ALONG ITS AXIS. 𝐝𝐋
THE VARIOUS QUANTITIES WE WILL USE ARE DETAILED IN THE FIGURE 𝐮𝒓
AS A FIRST STEP, WE EVALAUTE THE CONTRIBUTION 𝐝𝐁 AT POINT P DUE TO
THE DC CURRENT I FLOWING IN THE UPPERMOST INFINITESIMAL PIECE OF
WIRE (POINT C) HAVING ORIENTED LENGTH 𝐝𝐋
𝝁𝟎 𝑰 𝐝𝐋 ∧ 𝐮𝒓 𝝁𝟎 𝑰
𝒅𝐁 = = 𝒅𝑳 𝐮𝑩 𝒅𝐁 = 𝒅𝑩 𝐮𝑩
𝟒𝝅 𝒓𝟐 𝟒 𝝅 𝒓𝟐 𝐝𝐋
THIS VECTOR IS ORIENTED IN A WAY THAT IT HAS TWO COMPONENTS, ONE ALONG
THE LOOP AXIS (dB//, dBx), THE OTHER PERPENDIUCLAR TO THE AXIS (dB, dBy).
𝝁𝟎 𝑰 𝜋
𝒅𝑩𝒙 = 𝒅𝑩 𝐮𝑩 ∙ 𝐮𝒙 = 𝒅𝑩 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝜽 = 𝒄𝒐𝒔 𝜽 𝒅𝑳 𝑑𝐵𝑦 = 𝑑𝐵 u𝐵 ∙ u𝑦 = 𝑑𝐵 𝑐𝑜𝑠 −𝜃
𝟒 𝝅 𝒓𝟐 2

IF WE NOW CONSIDER THE CONTRIBUTION DUE TO THE CURRENT FLOWING IN

THE LOWERMOST PIECE OF WIRE OF ORIENTED LENGTH 𝐝𝐋, WE CAN SHOW THAT
𝒅𝑩′𝒙 = 𝒅𝑩𝒙 𝒅𝑩′𝒚 = − 𝒅𝑩𝒚

THE PAIR OF INFINITESIMAL PIECES, CONSIDERED AS A WHOLE, WILL PRODUCE A FIELD HAVING COMPONENTS
𝒅𝑩𝒙,𝑷𝑨𝑰𝑹 = 𝒅𝑩′𝒙 + 𝒅𝑩𝒙 = 𝟐 𝒅𝑩𝒙 𝒅𝑩𝒚,𝑷𝑨𝑰𝑹 = 𝒅𝑩′𝒚 + 𝒅𝑩𝒚 = 𝟎

THE CONTRIBUTION TO THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD DUE TO THE PAIR IS ORIENTED ALONG THE LOOP AXIS !
18
 MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD GENERATED BY A CIRCULAR LOOP
AS A CONSEQUENCE, THE TOTAL FIELD GENERATED BY THE LOOP IN POINT P WILL
BE ORIENTED ALONG THE LOOP AXIS. ITS INTENSITY WILL BE GIVEN BY THE BIOT-
SAVART INTEGRAL LAW (SLIDE 17) 𝐝𝐋

𝐁 𝑷 = ර dB = ර 𝒅𝑩𝒙 ux + 𝒅𝑩⊥ u⊥

THE WIRE CAN BE SPLIT IN PAIRS OF OPPOSITE PIECES, EACH PAIR CONTRIBUTING
A FIELD ORIENTED AS THE LOOP AXIS WITH NO COMPONENT PERPENDICULAR TO
THE AXIS. HENCE WE OBTAIN 𝐝𝐋

𝛍𝟎 𝐈
𝐁 𝑷 = ර dB = ර 𝒅𝑩𝒙 ux = 𝑩𝒙 𝒙 ux 𝐁𝐱 𝐱 = ර 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝛉 𝐝𝐋
Γ 𝟒 𝛑 𝐫𝟐

FOR EACH PIECE OF THE WIRE ALONG WITH THE LINE INTEGRAL IS EVALUATED, ALL QUANTITIES HAVE THE SAME VALUE.
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THIS POINT AND THE FACT THAT THE LENGTH OF THE PATH IS THE LENGTH OF THE CIRCLE
μ0 I μ0 I μ0 I 𝑎
𝑩𝒙 𝒙 = cos θ ර 𝒅𝑳 = cos θ 2 π 𝑎 = cos θ
4 π r2 Γ 4 π r 2 2 r 2

AS WE ARE EVALUATING THE FIELD ALONG THE AXIS (i.e. FOR VARYING VALUES OF THE x COORDINATE, IT IS WORTH
TO HAVE AN EQUATION IN WHICH ONLY THE x VALUE APPEARS, INSTEAD OF r AND . WE PROCEED AS FOLLOWS
𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎 𝑎2 𝑎2
cos θ = 𝑟 = 𝑎2 + 𝑥 2 cos θ = 2 = 3 = 2
𝑟 r2 r 𝑟 𝑟 𝑎 + 𝑥 2 3/2
19
 MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD GENERATED BY A CIRCULAR LOOP
WE ARE NOW ABLE TO WRITE THE FINAL RELATIONSHIP, IN WHICH WE ALSO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT THE SURFACE OF
THE LOOP (BEING IT A CIRCLE) IS GIVEN BY S =  a2
μ0 I𝑆
𝐁= ux
2 π 𝑎2 + 𝑥 2 3/2

IN THIS EQUATION WE CAN HIGHLIGHT THE FOLLOWING POINTS:

- THE INTENSITY OF THE FIELD DEPENDS ON THE PRODUCT IS, NOT ONLY ON THE DC CURRENT VALUE
- IN THE CENTER OF THE LOOP THE FIELD HAS ITS MAXIMUM VALUE, NOT AFFECTED BY THE RADIUS OF THE LOOP
- THE FIELD HAS THE SAME ORIENTATION ON BOTH SIDES OF THE LOOP

WE CAN REPRESENT GRAPHICALLY OUR RESULTS AS FOLLOWS

20
 NEEDLE vs LOOP: ARE THEY REALLY DIFFERENT ?
WE HAVE PREVIOUSLY ANALYZED THE EFFECT A MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD HAS ON A MAGNETIC NEEDLE AND HIGHLIGHTED
THAT ITS BEHAVIOUR WAS EASILY DESCRIED BY INTRODUCING THE CONCEPT OF MAGNETIC DIPOLE.
A NEEDLE IS ALSO A SOURCE OF MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD. IF WE LOOK AT THE MAGNETIC FIELD LINES GENERATED BY A
MAGNETIC NEEDLE AND A CIRCUALR LOOP IN WHICH A DC CURRENT FLOWS, WE NOTE A STRIKING SIMILARITY

WE CAN APPLY THE MAGNETIC DIPOLE MOMENT CONCEPT ALSO TO THE LOOP, DEFINING IT AS FOLLOWS:
- ITS INTENSITY IS GIVEN BY THE PRODUCT OF THE CURRENT I AND THE SURFACE S |𝐦| = 𝑰 𝑺
- ITS ORIENTATION FOLLOWS THE RIGHT HAND RULE OF SLIDE 4 (BUT NOW THE FINGERS FOLLOW THE
DC CURRENT FLOW AND THE THUMB INDICATES THE ORIENTATION OF THE DIPOLE MOMENT)
𝐦 = 𝐈 ∙ 𝑺 um
HOWEVER, IF WE GOT IT RIGHT, ALSO FOR A LOOP IN WHICH A DC CURRENT FLOWS THE EFFECTS ON MAGNTIC
DIPOLES WE DISCUSSED IN SLIDES 12 AND 13 SHOULD TAKE PLACE. LET’S CHECK ! 21
 DOES A LOOP REALLY BEHAVE AS A DIPOLE ?
IN ORDER TO SIMPLIFY THE MATH WE WILL SELECT A RECTANGULAR LOOP
INSTEAD OF A CIRCULAR ONE. THE MEANING OF THE VARIOUS PARAMETERS
CAN BE FOUND IN THE FIGURE. WE JUST POINT OUT THAT
- THE WIRE IS RIGID (NO CHANGE IN ITS SHAPE IS POSSIBLE)
- THE MAGNEITC FIELD IS PARALLEL TO THE z-AXIS 𝐁 = 𝑩 uz
- THE ANGLE BETWEEN THE LOOP AND THE z-AXIS IS 90°- 

AS A FIRST STEP WE EVALUATE THE FORCES ON THE 4 LOOP SIDES, USING THE
EQUATION (SLIDE 9) 𝐝𝐅Ԧ = 𝐈 𝐝𝐋 ∧ 𝐁 𝑢𝑏
LEFT SIDE 𝐅Ԧ𝑳 = 𝐼 𝑎 −𝑢𝑦 ∧ 𝐵 𝑢𝑧 = 𝐼 𝑎 𝐵 − 𝑢𝑥 = − 𝐅Ԧ
RIGHT SIDE 𝐅Ԧ𝑹 = 𝐼 𝑎 𝑢𝑦 ∧ 𝐵 𝑢𝑧 = 𝐼 𝑎 𝐵 𝑢𝑥 = 𝐅Ԧ
UPPER SIDE 𝐅Ԧ𝒖𝒑 = 𝐼 𝑏 𝑢𝑏 ∧ 𝐵 𝑢𝑧 = 𝐼 𝑏 𝐵 𝑢𝑏 ∧ 𝑢𝑧 = 𝐅′
Ԧ

LOWER SIDE 𝐅Ԧ𝒅𝒘 = 𝐼 𝑏 − 𝑢𝑏 ∧ 𝐵 𝑢𝑧 = 𝐼 𝑏 𝐵 −𝑢𝑏 ∧ 𝑢𝑧 = −𝐅′

Ԧ

THE FORCES ON THE UPPER AND LOWER SIDES ARE ON THE SAME LINE SO THEIR NET FORCE IS ZERO
THE FORCES ON THE RIGHT AND LEFT SIDES:
- HAVE THE SAME INTENSITY, SO THAT THEIR NET FORCE IS ZERO
- ARE NOT ON THE SAME LINE, SO THAT THE PAIR OF EQUAL FORCES WILL PRODUCE A TORQUE
22
 EVALUATING THE TORQUE
TO EVALAUTE THE TORQUE WE MUST CONSIDER THE EXPRESSION 𝛕 = 𝐫Ԧ ∧ 𝐅Ԧ
WHERE 𝐫Ԧ IS THE VECTOR CONNECTING THE POINTS WHERE THE TWO
FORCES ARE APPLIED (MIDPOINTS OF THE TWO SIDES)
𝐫Ԧ = 𝑏 𝑢𝑏
𝜏Ԧ = 𝑏 𝑢𝑏 ∧ 𝐼 𝑎 𝐵 𝑢𝑥 = 𝐼 𝑎 𝑏 𝐵 𝑢𝑏 ∧ 𝑢𝑥
IF WE INTRODUCE THE UNIT VECTOR 𝑢𝜇 PERPENDICULAR TO THE LOOP WE HAVE
𝑢𝑏 ∧ 𝑢𝑥 = 𝑢𝜇 ∧ 𝑢𝑧
𝑢𝑏
WE (i) SUBSTITUTE THIS IN THE EXPRESSION OF THE TORQUE, (ii) RECOGNIZE THAT
S = ab IS THE AREA OF THE LOOP AND (iii) APPROPRIATELY GROUP THE TERMS
𝛕 = 𝐼 𝑎 𝑏 𝐵 𝑢𝑏 ∧ 𝑢𝑥 = 𝐼 𝑎 𝑏 𝐵 𝑢𝜇 ∧ 𝑢𝑧 = 𝐼 𝑆 𝑢𝜇 ∧ 𝐵 𝑢𝑧 = 𝛍 ∧ 𝐁
WHEN PLACED IN A MAGNETIC FIELD THE LOOP BEHAVES AS A MAGNETIC DIPOLE!

THE DETAILED CALCULATION IS PECULIAR TO THE

GEOMETRY USED, BUT THE RESULT HOLDS FOR
ANY PLANAR LOOP, IRRESPECTIVE OF ITS SHAPE.

23
 AMPERE LAW
WE TAKE NOW A FURTHER STEP THAT, ALTHOUGH APPEARING RATHER WEIRD, WILL
BE OF HELP IN SOME REAL CASES, A COUPLE OF WHICH WE WILL DISCUSS LATER.
A
LET US SUPPOSE THAT A DC CURRENT FLOWING IN A CIRCUIT GENERATES A
MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD IN SPACE. THE VALUE OF THE FIELD IN EVERY POINT OF
SPACE IS GIVEN BY (SEE SLIDE 17) (c BEING THE PHYSICAL CIRCUIT ALONG WHICH
THE INTEGRAL MUST BE PERFORMED, 𝐫Ԧ THE POSITION IN SPACE OF THE POINT)
𝝁𝟎 𝐝𝐋 ∧ 𝐮𝒓
𝐁(Ԧ𝐫) = 𝑰ර
𝟒 𝝅 Γ𝑐 𝒓𝟐
WE NOW PICK UP A (MATHEMATICAL) CLOSED PATH (AMPERIAN LOOP A) ර 𝐁 𝐫Ԧ ∙ 𝒅Ԧ𝐬 = ර
𝝁𝟎
𝑰ර
𝐝𝐋 ∧ 𝐮𝒓
∙ 𝒅Ԧ𝐬
ON WHICH WE EVALUATE THE LINE INTEGRAL OF THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD Γ𝐴 Γ𝐴 𝟒 𝝅 Γ𝑐 𝒓𝟐

1 dL ∧ ur
AS BOTH 0 AND I ARE CONSTANT VALUES, WE CAN WRITE ර 𝐁 𝐫Ԧ ∙ 𝒅Ԧ𝐬 = 𝝁𝟎 𝑰 ර ර ∙ dԦs
Γ𝐴 ΓA 4 π Γc r2

THE EXPRESSION IN SQUARE BRACKETS APPEARS RATHER CHALLENGING AND WE MIGHT EXPECT ITS VALUE TO DEPEND
UPON THE SPECIFIC CHOICES OF c AND A. HOWEVER THIS IS NOT TRUE. IT CAN BE PROVED THAT THE VALUE OF THE
EXPRESSION IN SQUARE BRACKETS IS EITHER 0 OR 1:
- IT IS = 0 IF NO WIRE OF THE CIRCUIT GOES THROUGH THE SURFACE DELIMITED BY A
- IT IS = 1 IF A WIRE OF THE CIRCUIT GOES THROUGH THE SURFACE DELIMITED BY A
24
 AMPERE LAW
WE CAN STATE THE AMPERE LAW AS FOLLOWS: THE LINE INTEGRAL OF A MAGNETOSTATIC
FIELD ALONG ANY CLOSED LINE IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE INTENSITY OF THE CURRENT ර 𝐁 𝐫Ԧ ∙ 𝒅Ԧ𝐬 = 𝝁𝟎 𝑰
FLOWING THROUGH THE SURFACE DELIMITED BY THE LINE Γ𝐴

IF WE HAVE SEVERAL (SAY n) CIRCUITS, EACH OF THEM WITH A DIFFERENT DC CURRENT Ii FLOWING IN IT, WE CAN WRITE
𝒏 𝒏 𝒏
𝐁𝑻𝑶𝑻 𝐫Ԧ = ෍ 𝐁𝒊 𝐫Ԧ ර 𝐁𝑻𝑶𝑻 𝐫Ԧ ∙ 𝒅𝐬Ԧ = ර ෍ 𝐁𝒊 𝐫Ԧ ∙ 𝒅Ԧ𝐬 = ෍ ර 𝐁𝒊 𝐫Ԧ ∙ 𝒅𝐬Ԧ
𝒊=𝟏 Γ𝐴 Γ𝐴 𝒊=𝟏 𝒊=𝟏 Γ𝐴

EACH LINE INTEGRAL IN THE SUM IS RELATED TO A SINGLE CIRCUIT, HENCE WE CAN APPLY AMPERE LAW:
𝒏
ර 𝐁𝑻𝑶𝑻 𝐫Ԧ ∙ 𝒅𝐬Ԧ = 𝝁𝟎 ෍ 𝑰𝒊
Γ𝐴 𝒊=𝟏

WHERE THE CURRENTS OF THE VARIOUS CIRCUITS ARE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT ONLY IF
A WIRE OF THE CIRCUIT GOES THROUGH THE SURFACE DELIMITED BY A .THE SUM IS
ALGEBRIC (i.e. WE HAVE TO DEFINE A POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SIGNS CONVENTION)
WHAT IF THE CIRCUIT GOES SEVERAL TIME THROUGH THE SURFACE DELIMITED BY
THE AMPERIAN LOOP ? WE CAN CHECK THAT ONLY TWO POSSIBILITIES EXIST:
- EITHER A CIRCUIT GOES THROUGH THE SURFACE AN EVEN NUMBER OF TIMES
(HALF OF THEM IN ONE DIRECTION, HALF IN THE OTHER) WITH TOTAL SUM = 0
- OR A CIRCUIT GOES THROUGH THE SURFACE AN ODD NUMBER OF TIMES (ALL
BACK AND FORTH, AND THEY CANCEL OUT, EXCEPT ONE, THAT GIVES THE
CONTRIBUTION TO AMPERE LAW) 25
 INFINITE STRAIGHT WIRE WITH A DC CURRENT

WE WILL USE AMPERE LAW TO EVALUATE THE MAGNETOSTATIC

FIELD GENERATED BY A STRAIGHT INFINITE WIRE IN WHICH A DC
CURRENT FLOWS. AS WE EVALUATE THE LINE INTEGRAL (A DOT
PRODUCT) OF THE FIELD, WE WILL ONLY BE ABLE TO GAIN
KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE INTENSITY OF THE FIELD AND NOT ITS
VECTORIAL CHARACTERISTICS (DIRECTION, ORIENTATION)

THE WIRE CAN BE CONSIDERED AS THE AXIS OF A CYLINDER, HENCE WE HAVE A CYLINDRICAL SYMMETRY, THAT
AMOUNTS AT 3 POSSIBLE SYMMETRIES
- RADIAL. THIS MEANS THAT THE FIELD IS DIRECTED TOWARDS THE WIRE, BUT THIS IS IN CONTRAST WITH LAPLACE
LAW (SLIDE 16) THAT STATES THAT THE FIELD IS PERPENDICULAR TO THE DISPLACEMENT VECTOR CONNECTING THE
POINT IN WHCIH THE FIELD IS EVLAUATED AND THE WIRE
- AXIAL. IN THIS CASE THE FIELD WILL BE PARALLEL TO THE WIRE, BUT THIS IS IN CONTRST WITH LAPLACE LAW (SLDIE
16) THAT STATES THAT THE FIELD MUST BE PERPENDCULAR TO THE DIRECTION OF CURRENT FLOW (dL)
- CIRCULAR. THIS SYMMETRY COMPLIES WITH LAPLACE LAW (AS THE DIRECTION IS PERPENDICULAR TO BOTH THE
DIRECTION OF THE CURRENT FLOW AND THE VECTOR CONNECTING THE POINT TO THE WIRE

IF WE SELECT A CIRCULAR AMPERIAN LOOP CENTERED IN THE WIRE AND PERPENDICULAR TO IT, ALL POINTS OF THE
LOOP ARE AT THE SAME DISTANCE FROM THE WIRE, HANCE THE FIELD INTENSITY WILL BE THE SAME IN EACH OF THEM
26
 INFINITE STRAIGHT WIRE WITH A DC CURRENT
IT IS NOW TIME TO APPLY AMPERE LAW TO THE CIRCUALR AMPERIAN LOOP OF RADIUS r, TAKING
INTO ACCOUNT THAT IN EACH POINT OF THE LOOP THE FIELD IS TANGENT TO THE LOOP ITSELF
𝝁𝟎 𝑰
ර B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs = ර B r ds = B r ර ds = B 𝑟 2 𝜋 𝑟 = 𝜇0 𝐼 𝐁 𝒓 =
𝛤𝐴 ΓA ΓA 𝟐𝝅 𝒓

THIS RESULT DESCRIBES THE INTENSITY OF THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD. ITS ORIENTATION IN
EVERY SINGLE POINT IN SPACE BEING PERPENDICULAR TO THE SHORTEST SEGMENT JOINING
THE POINT WITH THE WIRE. THE FIELD IS ORIENTED FOLLOWING THE USUAL RULES (SLIDE 16).

EXERCISE EVALUATE THE FIELD GENERATED BY A STRAIGHT WIRE OF RADIUS

R AND INFINITE LENGTH IN WHICH THE DC CURRENT
1) FLOWS ONLY ON THE SURFACE
2) FLOWS IN ALL THE WIRE SECTION WITH A UNIFORM CURRENT DENSITY

r
27
 SOLENOID
WE ARE GOING TO EVALUATE THE MAGNETIC FIELD INSIDE A SOLENOID IN WHICH A DC CURRENT
FLOWS, SUPPOSING IT TO BE OF INFINITE LENGTH. IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO PROPERLY APPLY
AMPERE LAW, WE NEED TO PICK A PROPER AMPERIAN LOOP: THE CURRENT CARRYING WIRES
MUST GO ACROSS THE SURFACE CONTOURED BY THE AMPERIAN LOOP

FIRST OF ALL, EXPLOITING SYMMETRY, WE WILL TRY TO WORK OUT THE DIRECTION OF THE MAGNETOSTATIC FELD. HERE
AGAIN THE SOURCE OF THE FIELD HAS CYLNDRICAL SYMMETRY, BUT THE CURRENT FLOWS ON THE LATERAL SURFACE OF
A CYLINDER. AMONG THE VARIOUS SIMMETRY IN A CYLINDER (RADIAL, AXIAL, CIRCULAR), ONLY THE AXIAL ONE FULLFILLS
LAPLACE LAW (i.e. NEITHER POINTING TOWARDS THE SOURCES NOR BEING PARALLEL TO THE CURRENT FLOW

THE AMPERIAN LINE WE SELECT IS REPORTED IN THE FIGURE. IT HAS A RECTANGULAR A

SHAPE AND IS MADE BY FOUR SEGMENTS:
- ONE AXIAL INSIDE THE SOLENOID
- ONE AXIAL OUTSIDE THE SOLENOID
- TWO RADIALS JOINING THE OTHER TWO AT THEIR EXTREMES

WE APPLY AMPERE LAW SPLITTING THE DOMAIN OF INTEGRATION IN THE FOUR SUBDOAMINS CORRESPONDING TO
THE SEGMENTS
ර B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs = න B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs + න B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs + න B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs + න B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs
𝛤𝐴 𝐼𝑁𝑁𝐸𝑅 𝑅𝐼𝐺𝐻𝑇 𝑂𝑈𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝑅𝐼𝐺𝐻𝑇

28
 SOLENOID
A

ර B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs = න B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs + න B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs + න B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs + න B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs

𝛤𝐴 𝐼𝑁𝑁𝐸𝑅 𝑅𝐼𝐺𝐻𝑇 𝑂𝑈𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝑅𝐼𝐺𝐻𝑇

THE EVALUATION OF THE INTEGRALS FOR THE VERTICAL SEGMENTS IS STRAIGHTFORWARD BECAUSE THE FIELD IS
PERPENDICULAR TO THE LINE. HENCE EACH F THE TWO INTEGRALS WILL BE ZERO.
THE EVALUATION OF THE INNER LINE INTEGRAL IS SIMPLE BECAUSE:
- THE FIELD HAS EVERYWHERE THE SAME INTENSITY ALONG THE LINE
- THE FIELD IS PARALLEL TO THE LINE
ASSUMING THAT THE FIELD MIGHT VARY WITH THE DISTANCE r FROM THE AXES OF THE SOLENOID WE WRITE

න B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs = න B r ds = B r න ds = B r 𝑎
𝐼𝑁𝑁𝐸𝑅 𝐼𝑁𝑁𝐸𝑅 𝐼𝑁𝑁𝐸𝑅

BEFORE ADDRESSING THE REMAINING INTEGRAL, WE FOCUS THE SECOND MEMBER OF AMPERE LAW. PROVIDED THAT
THE SOLENOID HAS A NUMBER n OF LOOPS PER UNIT LENGTH, THE SURFACE OF THE AMPERIAN LOOP IS CROSSED BY A
NUMBER N (= n a) OF LOOPS, EACH CARRYING A DC CURRENT I. HENCE WE HAVE

ර B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs = 𝜇0 𝑁 𝐼 = 𝜇0 𝑛 𝑎 𝐼
𝛤𝐴

29
 SOLENOID

WE ARE READY TO TACKLE THE LAST INTEGRAL. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE FIELD OUTSIDE THE
A
SOLENOID (AXIAL BY SYMMETRY) IS NON ZERO. WE EXPECT IT TO FADE FAR FROM THE SOLENOID,
EVENTUALLY DISAPPEARING AT VERY LONG DISTANCES. BY SUPPOSING THAT:
- THE FIELD IS AXIAL AND NON ZERO CLOSE TO THE SOLENOID
- THE FIELD FADES WITH THE DISTANCE r’ FROM THE AXIS OF THE SOLENOID
න B rԦ′ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs = B r′ න ds = B r′ 𝑎
𝑂𝑈𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝑂𝑈𝑇𝐸𝑅

THIS RESULT ALLOWS US TO COMPLETE THE CALCULATION ර B rԦ ∙ 𝑑Ԧs = B r 𝑎 + B r′ 𝑎 = 𝜇0 𝑛 𝑎 𝐼

𝛤𝐴
B r = 𝜇0 𝑛 𝐼 − B r′
THE OUTCOME IS: THE FIELD WE MEASURE ISNIDE THE SOLENOID DEPENDS AT WHICH DISTANCE FROM THE SOLENOID
WE DRAW (ON PAPER !!!) THE OUTER SEGMENT. AS THIS IS CLEARLY ABSURD, THE ONLY PHYISCALLY MEANINGFUL
HYPOTHESIS ABOUT THE FILED OUTSIDE THE SOLENOID IS: EVERYWHERE OUTSIDE THE FIELD IS ZERO !
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THIS WE REACH OUR GOAL (AND FIND OUT THAT THE FIELD HAS THE
𝐁 𝐫 = 𝛍𝟎 𝐧 𝐈
SAME INTENSITY INSIDE THE SOLENOID IRRESPECTIVE OF THE DISTANCE FROM THE AXIS

30
 THE UNIT OF ELECTRIC CURRENT: AMPERE [A]

WE HAVE INTRODUCED PREVIOUSLY THE AMPERE [A] AS THE UNIT FOR MEASURING THE AMOUNT OF AN ELECTRICAL
CURRENT. WE HAVE ALSO NOTED THAT, IN ORDER TO FIT THE UNITS OF THE ELECTRICAL AND MAGNEITC QUANTITIES,
THE FUNDAMENTAL UNITS (m, kg, s) OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM ARE FALLING SHORT.
ALTHOUGH, AS EVERYTHING RELATES TO VHARGE PRESENCE AND MOTION, THE MOST LOGIC STEP WILL BE TO SELECT
THE UNIT OF CHARGE AS TH ADDITIONAL FUNDAMENTAL UNIT WE ARE LOOKING FOR.
THIS CHOICE, HOWEVER, IS NOT CONVENIENT, BECAUSE WHEN A FUNDAMENTAL UNIT IS SELECTED, THE MAIN
CRITERIA IS NOT LOGIC BUT WE ARE LOOKING FOR (i) REPRODUCIBILTY AND (ii) PRECISION
YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO MEASURE IT WITH AN AS SMALL AS POSSIBLE ERROR BAR AND REPEAT THE EXPERIMENT AS
MANY TIME AS YOU WISH WITH A SIMILAR ERROR BAR. THESE REASONS LED TO THE THE SELECTION OF THE AMPERE
[A] AS THE ADDITIONAL FUNDAMENTAL NEEDED TO INCORPORATE ALL ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC QUANTITIES IN THE
FRAMEWORK OF THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNITS
THE EXPERIMENT THAT ALLOW TO REPRODUCE THE AMPERE IN THE LABS IS BASED ON MAGNETIC INTERACTION
BETWEEN TWO PARALLEL WIRES IN WICHE A DC CURRENT FLOWS IN THE SAME DIRECTION
WE WILL START BY GIVING THE DEFINITION AND THEN SUBSTANTIATE IT IN THE NEXT SLIDE BY EXPLOITING OUR
KNOWLEDGE OF MAGNETOSTATICS
WHEN THE CURRENT OF 1 A IS FLOWN, IN THE SAME DIRECTION, IN EACH OF TWO LONG, STRAIGHT AND PARALLEL
WIRES PLACED AT A DISTANCE OF 1 m, A FORCE OF 210-7 N IS ACTING ON EVERY PIECE OF WIRE OF LENGTH 1 m
31
 THE UNIT OF EELCTRICAL CURRENT: AMPERE

LET’S FOCUS ON THE FORCE THE LEFT WIRE APPLIES ON THE RIGHT ONE (OF COURSE THERE
WILL BE AN EQUAL AND OPPOSITE ONE THAT THE RIGHT 0NE WILL APPLY TO THE LEFT ONE ...)
CONSIDERING THE LENGTH OF EACH WIRE TO BE MUCH LARGER THAN THE DISTANCE
BETWEN THEM, WE CAN EVALUATE THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD GENERATED BY THE
LEFT WIRE AT THE RIGHT ONE POSITION USING THE EQUATION OF SLIDE 27 𝝁 𝟎 𝑰𝟏
𝐁 𝒓 =
𝟐𝝅 𝒓
AS ALL VECTORS INVOLVED IN THE CROSS PROCUCS ARE MUTUALLY PERPENDICULAR, WE
- CAN VERIFY THAT THE FORCE IS ATTRACTIVE
- CAN FOCUS ON THE INTENSITY OF THE FORCE APPLIED ON A LENGTH L OF THE LEFT WIRE (SLIDE 9)
𝝁𝟎 𝑰𝟏 𝑰𝟐 F μ0 I1 I2
𝑭 = 𝑰𝟐 𝐋 𝑩 𝒓 = 𝑳 =
𝟐𝝅 𝒓 L 2π r
ASSUMING
(i) THE TWO CURRENTS TO BE EQUAL,
(ii) TO CONSIDER THE FORCE ON A LENGTH L = 1 m,
(iii) TO HAVE PLACED THE TWO WIRES AT A DISTANCE r 1 m,
WE CAN VERIFY THAT IN ORDER TO HAVE A FORCE OF 210-7 N THE
TWO CURRENTS MUST BE OF 1 A, AS STATED IN THE DEFINITION OF
THE PREVIOUS SLIDE
32
 GAUSS LAW FOR MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD
WE RECALL THAT:
- ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS ARE SOMEWHAT RELATED, ALTHOUGH THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS STILL UNCLEAR
- THE LINE INTEGRAL OF THE ELECTROSTATIC FIELD ALONG A CLOSED LOOP EXPRESSES A FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTY OF
THE ELECTROSTATIC FIELD (ELECTROSTATIC FORCE IS A CONSERVATIVE ONE)
- THE LINE INTEGRAL OF THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD ALONG A CLOSED LOOP EXPRESSES A FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTY
OF THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD (THE FIELD IS GENERATED BY MOVING CHARGES)
- THE GAUSS LAW FOR THE ELECTROSTATIC FIELD EXPRESSES A FUNDAMENTAL PROPERTY OF THE ELECTROSTATIC FIELD
(THE FIELD IS GENERATED BY CHARGES)
THE QUESTION ARISES: IS THERE A GAUSS LAW FOR THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD ?
GAUSS LAW FOR THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD: THE FLUX OF THE MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD THROUGH
ර 𝐁 𝐫Ԧ ∙ 𝐮𝒓 𝒅𝑺 = 𝟎
ANY CLOSED SURFACE IS ALWAYS ZERO 𝑆

THIS TELLS US THAT NO SINGLE MAGNETIC POLE EXIST (THEY ALWAYS GO IN PAIR: NORTH-
SOUTH). THIS CAN BE READILY UNDERSTOOD FOR A LOOP WITH A DC CURRENT. AS:
- THE NORTH POLE IS THAT FROM WHICH WE SEE THE CURRENT FLOWING
COUNTERCLOCKWISE IN THE LOOP
- THE SOUTH POLE IS THAT FROM WHICH WE SEE THE CURRENT FLOWING CLOCKWISE IN
THE LOOP
A SINGLE DC CURRENT PRODUCES BOTH POLES AT THE SAME TIME: NEVER ONLY ONE !
FOR NEEDLES A PROOF IS TRICKIER BUT IT TURNS OUT THE SAME: EVEN BY CRUSHING THE
NEEDLE TO THE FINEST POWDER, EVERY SINGLE GRAIN STILL HAVE BOTH POLES. 33
 PECULIAR STUFF
LET’S GO BACK TO SLIDE 14 AND TAKE A NEW LOOK AT THE SITUATION. WE ALREDY DISCUSSED
THE FIGURE FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF AN INERTIAL SYSTEM WITH RESPECT TO WHICH THE
CHARGE HAS SPEED v. WE NOW PICK AN INERTIAL SYSTEM WHICH MOVES WITH THE CHARGE
(i.e. THE CHARGE IS STANDING STILL IN IT). AS THE CHARGE IS NOT MOVING IT WON’T PRODUCE
A MAGNETIC FIELD: IN THSIS NEW INERTIAL SYSTEM WE WILL ONLY FIND ELECTRIC FIELD !
𝜇0 𝑞 v ∧ u𝑟
B= =0
4𝜋 𝑟2

WE NOW EXAMINE A SITUATION IN WHICH LORENTZ FORCE IS INVOLVED: A DC CURRENT I DUE TO THE MOTION OF
POSITIVE CHARGES EACH HAVING CHARGE Q AND SPEED v FLOWS INSIDE AN INFINITE NEUTRAL WIRE. A POSITIVE
CHARGE q MOVES PARALLEL TO THE WIRE AT THE SAME SPEED. AS WE KNOW:
- THE WIRE GENERATES A MAGNETOSTATIC FIELD Q v I
- THE MOVING CHARGE MOTION IS AFFECTD BY A LORENTZ FORCE
q v
HOWEVER, IF WE PICK AN INERTIAL SYSTEM MOVING AT THE SAME SPEED OF THE CHARGE q, IN IT THE CHARGE q WILL
BE STANDING STILL. AS A CONSEQUENCE NO LORENTF FORCE WILL ARISE ! NEVERTHELESS THE EFFECT OF THE FORCE
(i.e. A NON LINEAR PATH DUE TO THE ACCELERATION TOWARDS THE WIRE) IS VISIBLE ALSO IN THIS SYSTEM. WHY ?
THESE TWO EXAMPLES (AND MANY OTHERS WE DISREGARD HERE) SUGGEST US THAT THE FULL STORY OF THE FIELD IS
MORE COMPLICATED THAN EXPECTED. IN REALITY:
- THE TWO FIELDS ARE DEEPLY INTERTWINNED (BEING PART OF A SINGLE QUANTITY: THE LEECTROMAGNETIC TENSOR)
- A PROPER DESCRIPTION OF THE PHENOMENA NEEDS SPECIAL RELATIVITY 34