P15 - Electromagnetism Flashcards
(36 cards)
Examples of magnetic materials
Iron, steel, cobalt and nickel
What is a permanent magnet
A magnet that produces its own magnetic field. Is usually made of steel as it doesn’t lose its magnetism easily
How can magnetic field lines be found?
- Iron filings
- Plotting compass which always points towards the South Pole
What is an induced magnet
A material that becomes a magnet when in a magnetic field. It always produces a force of attraction
What is a magnetic field
The region around a magnet where another magnet or a magnetic material experiences a force
What are magnetic field lines
- Show the direction of the force that would act on a north pole at that point
- They always point from a magnet’s north pole to its south pole
What does the strength of a magnetic field caused by a current in a wire depend on?
- The current through the wire
- The distance from the wire
How to remember the corkscrew rule
Right hand thumb rule
What is a solenoid?
A coil of wire that has a similar magnetic field to a bar magnet
What is the field like inside the solenoid?
Strong and uniform
Methods that increase the strength of a solenoid (3)
- Add an irone core (makes it an electromagnet)
- Increase current
- Tighter turns / more truns on solenoid
Devices where electromagnets are used
- Relays
- Electric bells
- Circuit breakers
How does a relay make use of electromagnets
- A relay contains 2 separate circuits
- There is a low voltage circuit containing an electromagnet which is safe to be switched on or off
- On the high voltage circuit there are 2 metal contacts, an iron block and a spring
- When the low voltage circuit is switched on, a current flows making a magnetic field around the electromagnet
- The electromagnet then attracts the iron block in the high voltage circuit
- This makes the contacts touch and a currnet can flow
How does a doorbell make use of an electromagnet
- The switch closes when the buzzer is pressed and a current can flow through the circuit
- The electromagnet then produces a magnetic field and the iron armature is attracted to the electromagnet
- When this happens, the hammer hits the bell and this breaks the circuit so no current flowing and no electromagnet
- This means the iron armature moves back to its original position and the circuit is complete again so the process repeats
Defenition of the motor effect
When a conductor carrying a current is in a magnetic field, the magnet and the conducter exert a force on each other
What factors increase the size of the force in the motor effect (3)
- Increasing the current
- Using a stronger magnet
- Length of the wire
What does each finger in Fleming’s left hand rule show
- Thumb - Force
- First finger - magnetic field
- Second finger - current
Equation that applies to Flemin’g left hand rule
Force = magnetic flux denisty x current x length
F = Bil
What is magnetic flux denisty and give its unit
The strength of the magnetic field. It is measured in tesla (T)
How does an electric motor work
- A loop of wire in a magnetic field rotates due to a force experienced on both sides of the wire - one side moves up and one side moves down creating a moment (turning force)
- When the coil gets to a vertical position, momentum keeps the wire turning and the split ring commutators change the direction of the current
- This keeps the motor rotating in the same direction
How does a moving coil loudspeaker work (5 steps)
- You have a cone with a coil or wire wrapped around one end and the coil is connected to an A.C. supply. A permanent magnet goes inside the coil of wire
- A.C through coil produces a magnetic field and this magnetic field interacts with the magnetic field of the permanent magnet
- Causes a resultant force due to motor effect and pushes cone out
- Current reverses, so force reverses, so cone moves back in
- This causes cone vibrations which are sound waves
What can you change to change the sound produced by a moving coil loudspeaker
- By changing the frequency of the A.C. supply, you can change the frequency of the cone vibrations and therefore the frequency of the sound waves
- If the size of the A.C. current changes, the amplitude and therefore volume of the sound changes
Defenition of electromagnetic induction
- Where a potential difference is induced across the ends of a conductor due to it moving through a magnetic field or the magnetic field is varying.
- When the condctor stops moving, the potential difference is lost
- If the conductor moves back the other away, a potential difference is induced again but it is in the opposite direction
What is the generator effect
- Same as defenition of induced electromagnetism
- If the conductor is connected to a circuit, an induced current is produced which creates its own magnetic field
- The induced current’s magentic field opposes themovement of the magnet (the original change)
- We only get the generator effect when the wire passes through the magentic field and not along it
These together make up the generator effect