What a magnetic field does
- The magnetism journey
What a magnetic field does
- The strength of magnetic field B (or magnetic induction) indicates how strong the magnetic field is at some point.
- The unit of intensity in the S.I. system is 1 Tesla or T.
- An easy way to measure how strong a magnetic field is the following:
- Having a large stack of fasteners and staples on a table, test how many can stick to a magnetic pole and throughout the entire surface of the magnet (from the north to the south pole).
- Having a pile of small (1 to 4mm in diameter) steel balls inside a plastic container place the magnet in the center of the pile and count how many will stick to it, trying to cover it completely. By removing the magnet and placing the steel balls in a new plastic container, calculate how many steel bullets you managed to attach to the magnet in the end.
Left image: Permanent magnets of various types that have the same energy (~0.4 J) but very different size and consequently weight. From the mineral magnetite we passed to the ferrites and today the strongest magnets are the neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB). Right image: Very powerful electromagnets are used in the collection of metal objects.
VIDEOS
Check out the related videos
- The following videos show some of today's applications of permanent magnets and electromagnets through simple experiments