electromagnetic force

(noun)

a long-range fundamental force that acts between charged bodies, mediated by the exchange of photons

Related Terms

Examples of electromagnetic force in the following topics:

  • Maxwell's Predictions and Hertz' Confirmation

    • Maxwell's prediction of the electromagnetic force was confirmed by Hertz who generated and detected electromagnetic waves.
    • Combining the work of physicists including Oersted, Coulomb, Gauss, and Faraday, and adding his own insights, James Clerk Maxwell developed a complete and overarching theory showing electric and magnetic forces are not separate, but different forms of the same thing: the electromagnetic force.
    • The strength of the force is related to the electric constant ε0, also known as the permitivity of free space.
    • A changing magnetic field induces an electromotive force (emf) and, hence, an electric field.
    • Explain how Maxwell's prediction of the electromagnetic force was confirmed by Hertz

  • Nuclear Fission

    • The strong nuclear force is the force between two or more nucleons.
    • The electromagnetic force causes the repulsion between like-charged protons.
    • The strong nuclear force acts to hold all the protons and neutrons close together, while the electromagnetic force acts to push protons further apart.
    • In atoms with small nuclei, the strong nuclear force overpowers the electromagnetic force.
    • As the nucleus gets bigger, the electromagnetic force becomes greater than the strong nuclear force.

  • Applications of Newton's Laws

    • Net force affects the motion, postion and/or shape of objects (some important and commonly used forces are friction, drag and deformation).
    • Friction is not itself a fundamental force, but arises from fundamental electromagnetic forces between the charged particles constituting the two contacting surfaces.
    • Another interesting force in everyday life is the force of drag on an object when it is moving in a fluid (either gas or liquid).
    • Like friction, the force of drag is a force that resists motion.
    • We see an illustrated example of drag force in.

  • Constant Velocity Produces a Straight-Line

    • There are many cases where a particle may experience no net force.
    • The particle could exist in a vacuum far away from any massive bodies (that exert gravitational forces) and electromagnetic fields.
    • Or there could be two or more forces on the particle that are balanced such that the net force is zero.
    • Recall that the magnetic force is:
    • In the case above the magnetic force is zero because the velocity is parallel to the magnetic field lines.

  • The Production of Electromagnetic Waves

    • Electromagnetic waves are the combination of electric and magnetic field waves produced by moving charges.
    • Electromagnetic radiation, is a form of energy emitted by moving charged particles.
    • The creation of all electromagnetic waves begins with a charged particle.
    • This charged particle creates an electric field (which can exert a force on other nearby charged particles).
    • These and many more such devices use electromagnetic waves to transmit data and signals.

  • Superposition of Forces

    • The superposition principle (superposition property) states that for all linear forces the total force is a vector sum of individual forces.
    • Therefore, the principle suggests that total force is a vector sum of individual forces.
    • Of course, our discussion of superposition of forces applies to any types (or combinations) of forces.
    • Total force, affecting the motion of the charge, will be the vector sum of the two forces.
    • (In this particular example of the moving charge, the force due to the presence of electromagnetic field is collectively called Lorentz force (see ).

  • Electric Motors

    • If you were to place a moving charged particle in a magnetic field, it would experience a force called the Lorentz force:
    • Your third finger will now be pointing in the direction of the force.
    • This results in a changing flux, which induces an electromagnetic field.
    • Any coil carrying current can feel a force in a magnetic field.
    • This force is the Lorentz force on the moving charges in the conductor.

  • Energy Transportation

    • In this sense the wave has done work (it applied a force over a distance).
    • Similarly we find that electromagnetic waves carry energy.
    • Electromagnetic waves can be imagined as a self-propagating transverse oscillating wave of electric and magnetic fields .
    • The photon is the quantum of the electromagnetic interaction, and is the basic "unit" or constituent of all forms of EMR.
    • Electromagnetic waves can be imagined as a self-propagating transverse oscillating wave of electric and magnetic fields.

  • Magnitude of the Magnetic Force

    • Magnetic fields exert forces on moving charges, and so they exert forces on other magnets, all of which have moving charges.
    • The magnetic force is as important as the electrostatic or Coulomb force.
    • The strongest permanent magnets have fields near 2 T; superconducting electromagnets may attain 10 T or more.
    • Magnetic fields exert forces on moving charges.
    • This force is one of the most basic known.

  • Electromagnetic Spectrum

    • The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation.
    • The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation.
    • The electromagnetic spectrum of an object has a different meaning: it is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object.
    • Whenever electromagnetic waves exist in a medium with matter, their wavelength is decreased.
    • The behavior of electromagnetic radiation depends on its wavelength.