Class 10 Science

Chapter 13 Magnetic Effects of Electric Current

Use of Magnets: Magnets are used

 in refrigerators, electric motors
 in radio and stereo speakers.
 in audio and video cassette players.
 in children’s toys and;
 in hard discs and floppies of computers.

Properties of Magnet
 A free suspended magnet always points towards the north and south direction.
 The pole of a magnet which points toward north direction is called north pole or north-seeking.
 The pole of a magnet which points toward south direction is called south pole or south seeking.
 Like poles of magnets repel each other while unlike poles of magnets attract each other.

Magnetic field: The area around a magnet where a magnetic force is experienced is called the magnetic
field. It is a quantity that has both direction and magnitude, (i.e., Vector quantity).

# Current carrying conductoer behaves like magnet.

Magnetic field and field lines: The influence of force surrounding a magnet is called magnetic field. In the
magnetic field, the force exerted by a magnet can be detected using a compass or any other magnet.

Fix a sheet of white paper on a drawing board using some adhesive material. Place a bar magnet in the centre of it.
Sprinkle some iron filings uniformly around the bar magnet. Now tap the board gently. The iron filings arrange
themselves in a pattern as shown Fig. 13.2.
The magnet exerts its influence in the region surrounding it. Therefore the iron filings experience a force. The force
thus exerted makes iron filings to arrange in a pattern. The region surrounding a magnet, in which the force of the
magnet can be detected, is said to have a magnetic field. The lines along which the iron filings align themselves
represent magnetic field lines.

The magnetic field is represented by magnetic field lines.

The imaginary lines of magnetic field around a magnet are called field line or field line of magnet. Field line
of a magnet can also be detected using a compass.

Properties of magnetic field lines

(i) They have both direction and magnitude.
(ii) Direction - Magnetic field lines emerge from North pole and merge at the South pole. Inside the
magnet, their direction is from South pole to North pole.
(iii) Magnetic field lines are closed curves.
(iv) Strength of magnetic field: The closeness of field lines shows the relative strength of magnetic field,
i.e. closer lines show stronger magnetic field and vice – versa. Crowded field lines near the poles of magnet
show more strength.
(v) They do not intersect each other. If they did, it would mean that at the point of intersection, the compass
needle would point towards two directions, which is not possible.
Magnetic field lines due to current a current carrying straight conductor

A current carrying straight conductor has magnetic field in the form of concentric circles, around it.
Properties of magnetic field around A current carrying straight conductor -
 The magnitude of magnetic field increases with increase in electric current and decreases with
decrease in electric current.
 The magnitude of magnetic field produced by electric current decreases with increase in distance and
vice – versa. The size of concentric circles of magnetic field lines increases with distance from the
conductor, which shows that magnetic field decreases with distance.
 Magnetic field lines are always parallel to each other.
 No two field lines cross each other.

The direction of magnetic field through a current carrying conductor depends upon the direction of flow
electric current.

Let a current carrying conductor be suspended vertically and the electric current is flowing from south to
north. In this case, the direction of magnetic field will be anticlockwise. If the current is flowing from north
to south, the direction of magnetic field will be clockwise.
The direction of magnetic field, in relation to direction of electric current through a straight conductor can be
depicted by using the Right Hand Thumb Rule. It is also known as Maxwell’s Corkscrew Rule.

Right-Hand Thumb Rule: Imagine that you are holding a current-carrying straight conductor in your right
hand such that the thumb points towards the direction of current. Then your fingers will wrap around the
conductor in the direction of the field lines of the magnetic field, This is known as the right-hand thumb rule.

Maxwell’s Corkscrew rule: As per Maxwell’s Corkscrew Rule, if the direction of forward movement of
screw shows the direction of the current, then the direction of rotation of screw shows the direction of
magnetic field.

Example 13.1
A current through a horizontal power line flows in east to west direction. What is the direction of magnetic
field at a point directly below it and at a point directly above it?
Solution
The current is in the east-west direction. Applying the right-hand thumb rule, we get that the magnetic field
(at any point below or above the wire) turns clockwise in a plane perpendicular to the wire, when viewed
from the east end, and anti-clockwise, when viewed from the west end.
Magnetic field lines due to a current through a circular loop

the magnetic field produced by a current-carrying straight wire depends inversely on the distance
from it. Similarly at every point of a current-carrying circular loop, the concentric circles representing
the magnetic field around it would become larger and larger as we move away from the wire (Fig.
13.8). By the time we reach at the centre of the circular loop, the arcs of these big circles would
appear as straight lines. Every point on the wire carrying current would give rise to the magnetic field
appearing as straight lines at the center of the loop. By applying the right hand rule, it is easy to
check that every section of the wire contributes to the magnetic field lines in the same direction
within the loop.

Clock Face Rule: A current carrying loop works like a disc magnet. If the current is flowing in anti –
clockwise direction, then the face of the loop shows north pole. On the other hand, if the current is flowing in
clockwise direction, then the face of the loop shows south pole.

Magnetic field and number of turns of coil: Magnitude of magnetic field gets summed up with increase in
the number of turns of coil. If there are ‘n’ turns of coil, magnitude of magnetic field will be ‘n’ times of
magnetic field in case of a single turn of coil.
The strength of the magnetic field at the centre of the loop(coil) depends on :
(i) The radius of the coil: The strength of the magnetic field is inversely proportional to the radius of the
coil. If the radius increases, the magnetic strength at the centre decreases
(ii) The number of turns in the coil : As the number of turns in the coil increase, the magnetic strength at
the centre increases, because the current in each circular turn is having the same direction, thus, the field due
to each turn adds up.
(iii) The strength of the current flowing in the coil: As the strength of the current increases, the strength of
three magnetic fields also increases.

Magnetic field due to a current in a Solenoid: Solenoid is the coil with many circular turns of insulated
copper wire wrapped closely in the shape of a cylinder. A current carrying solenoid produces similar pattern
of magnetic field as a bar magnet. One end of solenoid behaves as the north pole and another end behaves as
the south pole.

Magnetic field lines are parallel inside the solenoid, similar to a bar magnet, which shows that magnetic field
is same at all points inside the solenoid.
Magnetic field produced by a solenoid is similar to a bar magnet.
The strength of magnetic field is proportional to the number of turns and magnitude of current.
By producing a strong magnetic field inside the solenoid, magnetic materials can be magnetized. Magnet
formed by producing magnetic field inside a solenoid is called electromagnet.

Electromagnet: A strong magnetic field produced inside a solenoid can be used to magnetise a piece
of magnetic material, like soft iron, when placed inside the coil (Fig. 13.11). The magnet so formed is
called an electromagnet.
Steel/iron rod

Insulated copper wire

Force on a current carrying conductor in a magnetic field: A current carrying conductor exerts a force
when a magnet is placed in its vicinity. Similarly, a magnet also exerts equal and opposite force on the
current carrying conductor. This was suggested by Marie Ampere, a French Physicist and considered as
founder of science of electromagnetism.
The direction of force over the conductor gets reversed with the change in direction of flow of electric
current.
It is observed that the magnitude of force is highest when the direction of current is at right angles to the
magnetic field.

Fleming’s Left-Hand Rule: If the direction of electric current is perpendicular to the magnetic field, the
direction of force is also perpendicular to both of them.
According to this rule, stretch the thumb, forefinger and middle finger of your left hand such that
they are mutually perpendicular (Fig. 13.13). If the first finger points in the direction of magnetic field
and the second finger in the direction of current, then the thumb will point in the direction of motion
or the force acting on the conductor.
DOMESTIC ELECTRIC CIRCUITS
One of the wires in this supply, usually with red insulation cover, is called live wire (or positive).
Another wire, with black insulation, is called neutral wire (or negative). In our country, the
potential difference between the two is 220 V. At the metre-board in the house, these wires pass into
an electricity meter through a main fuse. Through the main switch they are connected to the line
wires in the house. These wires supply electricity to separate circuits within the house.
 Often, two separate circuits are used, one of 15 A current rating for appliances with higher power
ratings such as geysers, air coolers, etc. The other circuit is of 5 A current rating for bulbs, fans, etc.

The earth wire, which has insulation of green colour, is usually connected to a metal plate deep in
the earth near the house.
This is used as a safety measure, especially for those appliances that have a metallic body, for
example, electric press, toaster, table fan,refrigerator, etc.
The metallic body is connected to the earth wire, which provides a low-resistance conducting path
for the current. Thus, it ensures that any leakage of current to the metallic body of the appliance
keeps its potential to that of the earth, and the user may not get a severe electric shock.

A fuse in a circuit prevents damage to the appliances and the circuit due to overloading.
Overloading can occur when the live wire and the neutral wire come into direct contact. (This
occurs when the insulation of wires is damaged or there is a fault in the appliance.)
In such a situation, the current in the circuit abruptly increases. This is called short-circuiting.
The use of an electric fuse prevents the electric circuit and the appliance from a possible damage
by stopping the flow of unduly high electric current. The Joule heating that takes place in the fuse
melts it to break the electric circuit.
Overloading can also occur due to an accidental hike in the supply voltage. Sometimes overloading is
caused by connecting too many appliances to a single socket.

 AC (Alternate Current)
The direction of the current periodically changes, with the positive and negative sides constantly
switching. AC is produced by generators and is used to power homes and businesses.
 DC (Direct Current)
The current flows in one constant direction. DC is produced by batteries, solar cells, and AC/DC
converters, and is used in electronic devices like phones and clocks.
More differences between AC and DC:
 Voltage: AC voltage periodically changes, while DC voltage is constant.
 Transmission: AC can be transmitted over long distances without significant energy loss, while
DC cannot.
 Polarity: AC has no positive or negative terminal, while DC has a constant polarity.
 Power factor: AC has a power factor between 0 and 1, while DC has a power factor of 1.
 Alternating current (AC) has several advantages over direct current (DC), including:
 Transmission: AC can be transmitted over long distances with minimal power loss. AC voltages
can be stepped up to high levels for transmission, then stepped down to safer levels for consumer
use.
 Generation: AC is easier and cheaper to generate than DC.
 Compatibility: AC is compatible with a wide range of devices and appliances, including lighting,
heating systems, motors, and machinery.
 Management: AC is easier to manage in case of contact with living beings.
 Regulation: AC can be regulated without much wastage of electrical energy with the help of a
choke coil.
 Conversion: AC can be converted into DC with the help of rectifiers.