🫴Physical Science Unit 12 – Electricity and Magnetism

Key Concepts

• Electricity involves the flow of electric charge, typically carried by electrons in a conductor
• Magnetism is a force that attracts or repels objects, often involving magnetic fields generated by moving charges or inherent magnetic properties of certain materials (iron, nickel, cobalt)
• Electromagnetism combines electric and magnetic phenomena, describing their interactions and the fundamental force responsible for them
• Circuits provide a path for electric current to flow, consisting of components such as power sources (batteries), conductors (wires), and loads (light bulbs, motors)
• Electromagnetic induction converts changes in magnetic fields into electric current, enabling technologies like generators and transformers
• Electrostatics deals with electric charges at rest, including phenomena like static electricity and the behavior of charged objects
• Ohm's law relates voltage, current, and resistance in a circuit, expressed as $V = IR$, where $V$ is voltage, $I$ is current, and $R$ is resistance

Fundamentals of Electricity

• Electric charge is a fundamental property of matter, with positive (protons) and negative (electrons) charges
  • Like charges repel each other, while opposite charges attract
  • Charge is measured in coulombs (C), with the elementary charge being approximately $1.602 \times 10^{-19}$ C
• Electric current is the flow of electric charge, typically carried by electrons in a conductor
  • Current is measured in amperes (A), defined as the flow of one coulomb per second
  • Conventional current flows from positive to negative, while electron flow is in the opposite direction
• Voltage, or electric potential difference, is the energy per unit charge available to move charges in a circuit
  • Voltage is measured in volts (V), with one volt being the potential difference required to move one coulomb of charge using one joule of energy
• Resistance is the opposition to the flow of electric current in a material
  • Resistance is measured in ohms ($\Omega$), with one ohm being the resistance that allows a current of one ampere to flow when a voltage of one volt is applied
• Conductors (copper, aluminum) allow electric current to flow easily, while insulators (rubber, plastic) resist the flow of current

Magnetism Basics

• Magnets have north and south poles, with opposite poles attracting and like poles repelling each other
• Magnetic fields are regions around magnets where magnetic forces can be detected and visualized using field lines
  • Field lines originate at the north pole and terminate at the south pole, with the density of lines indicating the strength of the field
• Ferromagnetic materials (iron, nickel, cobalt) can be permanently magnetized and strongly respond to magnetic fields
  • Paramagnetic materials (aluminum, platinum) are weakly attracted to magnetic fields
  • Diamagnetic materials (copper, water) are weakly repelled by magnetic fields
• Earth's magnetic field acts like a giant bar magnet, with the magnetic north pole near the geographic south pole
  • Earth's magnetic field deflects charged particles in the solar wind, creating the auroras (northern and southern lights)
• Magnetic fields can be generated by moving electric charges, such as electric current in a wire
  • The right-hand rule relates the direction of current to the direction of the magnetic field

Electromagnetic Interactions

• Electromagnetic forces are one of the four fundamental forces of nature, along with gravity, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force
• Moving electric charges create magnetic fields, and changing magnetic fields induce electric currents
  • This relationship is described by Maxwell's equations, which form the foundation of classical electromagnetism
• Electromagnetic waves are self-propagating oscillations of electric and magnetic fields that travel through space at the speed of light
  • The electromagnetic spectrum includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays, differentiated by their wavelengths and frequencies
• Faraday's law of induction states that a changing magnetic flux through a loop of wire induces an electromotive force (EMF) in the loop
  • This principle is used in generators, transformers, and induction cooktops
• Lenz's law states that the induced EMF in a loop always opposes the change in magnetic flux that caused it
  • This law is a consequence of the conservation of energy and explains the direction of induced currents

Circuits and Current

• Electric circuits provide a closed path for electric current to flow, consisting of a power source, conductors, and a load
• Series circuits have components connected end-to-end, with the same current flowing through each component
  • In a series circuit, the total voltage is the sum of the voltages across each component, and the total resistance is the sum of the individual resistances
• Parallel circuits have components connected side-by-side, with the same voltage across each branch
  • In a parallel circuit, the total current is the sum of the currents through each branch, and the total resistance is less than the resistance of any individual branch
• Kirchhoff's current law states that the sum of currents entering a junction in a circuit must equal the sum of currents leaving the junction
• Kirchhoff's voltage law states that the sum of the voltage drops around any closed loop in a circuit must equal zero
• Capacitors store electric charge and energy in an electric field between two conducting plates
  • Capacitance is measured in farads (F), with one farad being the capacitance that stores one coulomb of charge when a voltage of one volt is applied

Applications in Technology

• Electric motors convert electrical energy into mechanical energy by using the interaction between magnetic fields and electric currents
  • DC motors use a commutator to switch the direction of current, while AC motors rely on alternating current to create a rotating magnetic field
• Generators convert mechanical energy into electrical energy by using the principle of electromagnetic induction
  • Turbines driven by steam, water, or wind rotate a coil of wire in a magnetic field, inducing an electric current in the coil
• Transformers change the voltage and current levels in AC circuits by using the principle of mutual induction between two coils of wire
  • Step-up transformers increase voltage and decrease current, while step-down transformers decrease voltage and increase current
• Electromagnets are used in a wide range of applications, including electric bells, relays, solenoids, and MRI machines
  • The strength of an electromagnet can be controlled by changing the current flowing through its coil or the number of turns in the coil
• Induction cooktops use alternating magnetic fields to induce eddy currents in ferromagnetic cookware, generating heat directly in the pot or pan

Experiments and Demonstrations

• The Faraday cage demonstrates the shielding effect of a conducting enclosure against external electric fields
  • A person inside a Faraday cage is protected from external electric fields, as the charges redistribute on the outer surface of the cage
• The Van de Graaff generator uses a moving belt to accumulate electric charge on a hollow metal sphere, producing high voltages and spectacular sparks
  • The generator can be used to demonstrate electrostatic phenomena, such as the repulsion of like charges and the attraction of opposite charges
• The Lorentz force can be demonstrated using a current-carrying wire suspended between the poles of a magnet
  • The wire experiences a force perpendicular to both the current and the magnetic field, causing it to move
• Electromagnetic induction can be demonstrated using a magnet and a coil of wire connected to a galvanometer
  • Moving the magnet relative to the coil induces a current in the coil, which is detected by the galvanometer
• Lenz's law can be demonstrated using a copper tube and a strong magnet
  • Dropping the magnet through the tube induces eddy currents in the copper, which create a magnetic field that opposes the motion of the magnet, slowing its fall

Challenges and Future Developments

• Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity with zero resistance below a critical temperature
  • Developing room-temperature superconductors could revolutionize power transmission, energy storage, and computing
• Wireless power transfer uses electromagnetic induction or resonance to transmit power without wires
  • Improving the efficiency and range of wireless power transfer could enable new applications in mobile devices, electric vehicles, and implantable medical devices
• Quantum electrodynamics (QED) is the quantum field theory that describes the interactions between charged particles and photons
  • Advancing our understanding of QED could lead to new technologies in quantum computing, cryptography, and sensing
• Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) studies the behavior of electrically conducting fluids in the presence of magnetic fields
  • MHD has applications in plasma physics, astrophysics, and fusion power generation
• Electromagnetic metamaterials are artificial structures engineered to have unique electromagnetic properties not found in nature
  • Developing metamaterials with negative refractive indices or perfect absorption could enable novel applications in imaging, cloaking, and energy harvesting