Chapter – 13 Magnetic Effects of Electric Current

Magnet attracts iron or iron like substances (cobalt and nickel).

Properties of Magnet :-
1. Every magnet has two poles i.e., North and South. The attraction is
maximum at these poles.
2. A freely suspended bar magnet aligns itself in nearly north-south direction,
with its north poles towards north direction.
3. When two magnets are brought together, like poles repel and unlike poles
attract each other.
Oersted’s Experiment :-
Hans Christian Oersted discovered that a compass needle gets deflected when
a current carrying metallic conductor is placed nearby it. According to him,
deflection of compass needle was due to the magnetic field produced by
electric current.
Therefore, Electric current through a metallic conductor produces a magnetic
field around it.
Magnetic Field :-
The region surrounding the magnet, in which the force of the magnet can be
detected is said to have a magnetic field.
• Its SI unit is Tesla (T).
• Magnetic field has both magnitude and direction. So, it is a vector quantity.
• Magnetic field can be described with help of a magnetic compass.
• The needle of a magnetic compass is a freely suspended bar magnet.
Magnetic Field Lines :-
Imaginary lines used to represent magnetic field are called Magnetic Field
Lines.
When iron fillings are kept near a magnet, they get arranged in a pattern which
represents the magnetic field lines.
• Field lines emerge from North pole and merge into South pole of the
magnet.
• Direction of field lines inside a magnet is from South to North.
• Field lines are closed curves.
• The relative strength of magnetic field shown by degree of closeness of field
lines. Magnetic field lines are closer in the region where magnetic field is
stronger.
• Field lines never intersect each other as for two lines to intersect, there
must be two north directions at a point, which is not possible.
• A tangent at any point on the magnetic field line gives the direction of
magnetic field at that point.

Magnetic Field Due To A Current Carrying Straight Conductor :-

• Magnetic field lines are concentric circles with its centre at wire.
• Direction can be given by right hand thumb rule or compass.
• The magnetic field is maximum at the centre and decreases along the axis
of the loop.
Maxwell’s Right Hand Thumb Rule :-
It states that, if you hold the current carrying straight wire in the grip of your right
hand in such a way that stretched thumb points in direction of current, then the
direction of the curl of the fingers will give the direction of magnetic field.

Magnetic Field Due To A Current Carrying Circular Loop :-

• The strength of the magnetic field increases if the current flowing through
the wire increases or vice-versa.
• The strength of magnetic field decreases as with increase in the radius of loop.
• More the number of turns in a loop, greater the magnetic field.
• It can be represented by concentric circle at every point.
• As we move away from the wire to the centre, the concentric circles of
magnetic lines of force becomes bigger.
• Every point on current carrying wire would give rise to magnetic field
appearing as straight line at center of the loop.
• The direction of magnetic field inside the loop is same (either inwards or
outwards, depending upon the direction of the current).
• The magnetic field is maximum at the centre and decreases along the axis of
the loop.
• Magnetic field is additive in nature means magnetic field of one loop adds up
to magnetic field of another loop. This is because the current in each circular
turn has same direction.

Magnetic Field Due To A Current Carrying Solenoid :-

A coil of many circular turns of insulated copper wire wrapped closely in shape of
cylinder is called a solenoid.
• The strength of the magnetic field increases if the current flowing through
the wire increases or vice-versa.
• The strength of magnetic field increases if the number of turns per unit length
increases and vice-versa.
• The nature of the material also affects.
Note :- The magnetic field produced inside the solenoid (also called the core of
solenoid) is constant. The magnetic field at the ends of the solenoid is half of the
value of magnetic field inside the solenoid.
• The pattern of the magnetic field is similar to that of a bar magnet.
• One end of the solenoid is magnetic north pole and the other end is magnetic
south pole.
• Inside the solenoid :- Field lines are uniform and are from south to north.
• Outside the solenoid :- Field lines are non-uniform and represented by parallel
field lines. They are from north to south.
• Solenoid can be used to magnetize a magnetic material like soft iron.
Clock Face Rule :-

Electromagnet :-
It is a temporary magnet of soft iron core with a coil of copper wire wound
around it which retains magnetism only when current passes through the coil.
This is also known as temporary magnet.
When current is passed in the wire of electromagnet, the soft iron core
converts into a magnet. The magnetic field of soft iron adds up with the
magnetic field of solenoid and, therefore, and electromagnet produces
stronger magnetic field as compared to solenoid.
Factors affecting magnetic field of electromagnet –
• The magnitude of current.
• The number of turns per unit length.
Uses of Electromagnet :-
• For electrical devices such as electric trains.
• For moving big objects of iron from one place to another.
• For removing small iron splinter from an eye of a patient.
• For making electric bells, telephones, electric motor, etc.
Permanent Magnet :-
If we keep hard steel in place of soft iron in a solenoid and switch on the
current for some time, then hard steel converts into a magnet. But when the
 current is switched off; the hard steel does not lose its magnetism. This means
that hard steel converts into a permanent magnet.
Uses of Permanent Magnet :-
Microphones, loudspeakers, ammeters, voltmeters, speedometers, electric
clocks, etc.
Differences Between Electromagnet and Permanent Magnet :-

Electromagnet Permanent Magnet

1. An Electromagnet is a temporary A permanent magnet is not
magnet and depend on current for dependent on current for
magnetism and hence it can be easily magnetism.
demagnetized.
The strength of the magnetic field of The strength of magnetic field of a
an electromagnet can be changed by permanent magnet cannot be
changing the magnitude of current. changed.
Very powerful magnetic field can be The magnetic field of a permanent
produced with the help of an magnet is weak as compared to that
electromagnet. of a powerful electromagnet.
Poles can be reversed by reversing Poles cannot be reversed.
the flow of current.

Force On A Current Carrying Conductor In Magnetic Field:-

Andre Marie Ampere suggested that the magnet also exerts an equal and
opposite force on a current carrying conductor (except kept parallel).
Experiments have shown that the displacement of the rod is largest (or the
magnitude of the force is the highest) when the direction of current is at right
angles to the direction of the magnetic field.
Direction of force is also reversed when the direction of current is reversed.
Therefore, the direction of the force on the conductor depends upon the
direction of current and the direction of the magnetic field.
Factors on which magnitude of force depends :-
• Magnitude of force increases with increase in the current.
• Magnitude of force increases with increase in the magnetic field.
• Magnitude of force depends on the angle between the current and
magnetic field.
Fleming’s Left Hand Rule :-
According to this rule, stretch the thumb, forefinger, and middle finger of your
left hand such that they are mutually perpendicular. 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.

Direct Current (D.C.) :-

If current flows always in the same direction, the current is called Direct Current.
The source of D.C. is generally a cell or a battery or a D.C. generator.
This current is direct because it always has a positive value and is steady because
its value does not change.
Graphically, its graph is a straight line.
Alternating Current (A.C.) :-
If current changes its direction after regular intervals of time, the current is called
Alternating Current.
The source of an A.C. is and A.C. generator.
This current is alternating because it changes its direction. It has both positive and
negative values.
Advantages of A.C. :-

• AC can be easily converted to D.C.

• A pure choke coil does not suffer from loss of energy when operated on A.C.
• Alternating current can be transmitted at very high voltage and lesser
current over long distances with negligible loss of energy.
• A.C. machines like transformers are very efficient.
Disadvantages of D.C. :-
• AC cannot be used for electric processes like electroplating, electrotyping,
electrolysis etc.
• AC does not travel through the core of a conductor. It travels on the surface
of a conductor so thicker conductors are required for transmission.
• It can be dangerous to work on an AC system of the same voltage as
compared to DC because there are higher peak values in A.C. systems for
the same value of the voltage. For example, a 220 V A.C. has peak of 311 V.
Domestic Electric Circuits :-
• Electricity produced at power stations is brought to our homes by two thick
copper or aluminium wires.
• One of these is called live wire (positive) (in red insulation cover), connected
with live pin, which is at a potential of 220 V with a frequency of 50 Hz.
• The other is called neutral wire (negative) (in black insulation cover),
connected with neutral pin, which is at zero potential.
• One more wire is called Earth wire which is green in colour. It is connected
with Earth pin. It protects us from electric shock in case of leakage of
current especially in metallic body appliances. It provides a low resistance
path for current in case of leakage of current.
• Earthing or grounding is connecting metallic part of an electrical device to
earth with a thick wire which provides a low resistance path for the flow of
current.
• The Earth pin is connected with metallic part if an appliance so that if live
wire touches the metal body (due to the fault) of appliance, current may
flow from the earth wire. If we touch metallic part of the faulty appliance,
then current will pass through the earth wire in preference to our body.
This is because current prefers to pass through a low resistance path.
Resistance in Earth wire is much lower than our body. If earth wire is not
connected, then current will flow from our body if we touch a faulty
appliance. This electric shock may lead to death. Thus, Earth wire prevents
us from electric shocks.
• These wires (live and neutral) pass into an electricity meter (connected in
homes) through a main fuse.
• They are connected to the line wires in the home there through a main switch.
• Each distribution circuit is provided with a separate fuse. If a fault like short
circuiting occurs in one circuit, its corresponding fuse blows o but the other
circuit remains unaffected.
• All the electric appliances like bulb, fans are connected in parallel across the
live wire and neutral wire.
• The Potential difference between Live and Neutral wire in India is 220
Voltage with a frequency of 50 Hz.
Pole → Electricity Meter → Main Fuse → Main Switch → MCB
The electrical wiring in our house can be divided into two parts :-
• Circuit with appliances which uses a maximum of 5 A of current. These
appliances are bulbs, tube lights, fans, audio, TV, etc. The copper wire used
in the circuit is thin. This circuit is connected with a 5 A fuse.
• Circuit with appliances which uses a current greater than 5 A but less than
15 A. The copper wire used in the circuit is thick. This circuit is connected
with a 15 A fuse.
Electric Fuse :-
It is a safety device which protects the circuit and electrical appliances from
damage due to high current.
It world on the principle of heating effect of current. It is made up of a wire of
an alloy of tin (63%) and lead (37%). It has low melting point.
When rated current flows in the wire, the fuse wire remains connected and
current flows. But if more than the rated current flows, the heat produced in
the fuse wire is enough to melt it (due to low melting point of fuse wire). The
current does not flow through the fuse wire (circuit breaks) and, therefore,
does not reach the appliance thus saving it from burning off.
Overloading :-
If a large number of higher current-drawing appliances are switched on at the
same time then the total current drawn through the circuit may exceed its
rated value. This condition is called Overloading.
Causes of Overloading :-
• Accidental hike in voltage supply.
• Use of more than one appliance in a single socket.
Safety devices :-
• Electric fuse
• Earth wire
• MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker)
Short Circuiting :-
Short Circuiting takes place when the live wire comes in direct contact with the
neutral wire (due to damaged insulation or faulty appliance), resulting in the
flow of high current.
• Resistance of circuit becomes low.
• Can result in overloading.