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Faraday's law of induction (briefly, Faraday's law) is a basic law of
electromagnetism In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions of ...
predicting how a magnetic field will interact with an
electric circuit An electrical network is an interconnection of electrical components (e.g., batteries, resistors, inductors, capacitors, switches, transistors) or a model of such an interconnection, consisting of electrical elements (e.g., voltage sources, ...
to produce an electromotive force (emf)—a phenomenon known as electromagnetic induction. It is the fundamental operating principle of
transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...
s,
inductor An inductor, also called a coil, choke, or reactor, is a passive two-terminal electrical component that stores energy in a magnetic field when electric current flows through it. An inductor typically consists of an insulated wire wound into a c ...
s, and many types of
electrical Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
motors An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power g ...
, generators and solenoids. The Maxwell–Faraday equation (listed as one of
Maxwell's equations Maxwell's equations, or Maxwell–Heaviside equations, are a set of coupled partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, and electric circuits. ...
) describes the fact that a spatially varying (and also possibly time-varying, depending on how a magnetic field varies in time) electric field always accompanies a time-varying magnetic field, while Faraday's law states that there is emf (electromotive force, defined as electromagnetic work done on a unit charge when it has traveled one round of a conductive loop) on the conductive loop when the magnetic flux through the surface enclosed by the loop varies in time. Faraday's law had been discovered and one aspect of it (transformer emf) was formulated as the Maxwell–Faraday equation later. The equation of Faraday's law can be derived by the Maxwell–Faraday equation (describing transformer emf) and the Lorentz force (describing motional emf). The integral form of the Maxwell–Faraday equation describes only the transformer emf, while the equation of Faraday's law describes both the transformer emf and the motional emf.


History

Electromagnetic induction was discovered independently by
Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...
in 1831 and Joseph Henry in 1832. Faraday was the first to publish the results of his experiments. In Faraday's first experimental demonstration of electromagnetic induction (August 29, 1831), he wrapped two wires around opposite sides of an iron ring (
torus In geometry, a torus (plural tori, colloquially donut or doughnut) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis that is coplanar with the circle. If the axis of revolution does not tou ...
) (an arrangement similar to a modern
toroidal transformer Toroidal inductors and transformers are inductors and transformers which use magnetic cores with a toroidal (ring or donut) shape. They are passive electronic components, consisting of a circular ring or donut shaped magnetic core of ferromag ...
). Based on his assessment of recently discovered properties of electromagnets, he expected that when current started to flow in one wire, a sort of wave would travel through the ring and cause some electrical effect on the opposite side. He plugged one wire into a
galvanometer A galvanometer is an electromechanical measuring instrument for electric current. Early galvanometers were uncalibrated, but improved versions, called ammeters, were calibrated and could measure the flow of current more precisely. A galvan ...
, and watched it as he connected the other wire to a battery. Indeed, he saw a transient current (which he called a "wave of electricity") when he connected the wire to the battery, and another when he disconnected it. This induction was due to the change in magnetic flux that occurred when the battery was connected and disconnected. Within two months, Faraday had found several other manifestations of electromagnetic induction. For example, he saw transient currents when he quickly slid a bar magnet in and out of a coil of wires, and he generated a steady ( DC) current by rotating a copper disk near the bar magnet with a sliding electrical lead ("Faraday's disk").
Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...
explained electromagnetic induction using a concept he called
lines of force A line of force in Faraday's extended sense is synonymous with Maxwell's line of induction. According to J.J. Thomson, Faraday usually discusses ''lines of force'' as chains of polarized particles in a dielectric, yet sometimes Faraday discusses ...
. However, scientists at the time widely rejected his theoretical ideas, mainly because they were not formulated mathematically. An exception was
James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and li ...
, who in 1861–62 used Faraday's ideas as the basis of his quantitative electromagnetic theory. In Maxwell's papers, the time-varying aspect of electromagnetic induction is expressed as a differential equation which
Oliver Heaviside Oliver Heaviside FRS (; 18 May 1850 – 3 February 1925) was an English self-taught mathematician and physicist who invented a new technique for solving differential equations (equivalent to the Laplace transform), independently developed ...
referred to as Faraday's law even though it is different from the original version of Faraday's law, and does not describe motional emf. Heaviside's version (see Maxwell–Faraday equation below) is the form recognized today in the group of equations known as
Maxwell's equations Maxwell's equations, or Maxwell–Heaviside equations, are a set of coupled partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, and electric circuits. ...
.
Lenz's law Lenz's law states that the direction of the electric current induced in a conductor by a changing magnetic field is such that the magnetic field created by the induced current opposes changes in the initial magnetic field. It is named after p ...
, formulated by
Emil Lenz Heinrich Friedrich Emil Lenz (; ; also Emil Khristianovich Lenz, russian: Эмилий Христианович Ленц; 12 February 1804 – 10 February 1865), usually cited as Emil Lenz or Heinrich Lenz in some countries, was a Russian physic ...
in 1834, describes "flux through the circuit", and gives the direction of the induced emf and current resulting from electromagnetic induction (elaborated upon in the examples below).


Faraday's law

The most widespread version of Faraday's law states:


Mathematical statement

For a loop of wire in a magnetic field, the magnetic flux is defined for any
surface A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a physical object or space. It is the portion or region of the object that can first be perceived by an observer using the senses of sight and touch, and is ...
whose
boundary Boundary or Boundaries may refer to: * Border, in political geography Entertainment * ''Boundaries'' (2016 film), a 2016 Canadian film * ''Boundaries'' (2018 film), a 2018 American-Canadian road trip film *Boundary (cricket), the edge of the pla ...
is the given loop. Since the wire loop may be moving, we write for the surface. The magnetic flux is the surface integral: \Phi_B = \iint_ \mathbf(t) \cdot \mathrm \mathbf\, , where is an element of surface area of the moving surface , is the magnetic field, and is a vector dot product representing the element of flux through . In more visual terms, the magnetic flux through the wire loop is proportional to the number of
magnetic field lines A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to ...
that pass through the loop. When the flux changes—because changes, or because the wire loop is moved or deformed, or both—Faraday's law of induction says that the wire loop acquires an emf, defined as the energy available from a unit charge that has traveled once around the wire loop. (Although some sources state the definition differently, this expression was chosen for compatibility with the equations of
special relativity In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory regarding the relationship between space and time. In Albert Einstein's original treatment, the theory is based on two postulates: # The laws ...
.) Equivalently, it is the voltage that would be measured by cutting the wire to create an
open circuit Open circuit may refer to: *Open-circuit scuba, a type of SCUBA-diving equipment where the user breathes from the set and then exhales to the surroundings without recycling the exhaled air * Open-circuit test, a method used in electrical engineerin ...
, and attaching a
voltmeter A voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring electric potential difference between two points in an electric circuit. It is connected in parallel. It usually has a high resistance so that it takes negligible current from the circuit. A ...
to the leads. Faraday's law states that the emf is also given by the rate of change of the magnetic flux: \mathcal = -\frac, where \mathcal is the electromotive force (emf) and is the magnetic flux. The direction of the electromotive force is given by
Lenz's law Lenz's law states that the direction of the electric current induced in a conductor by a changing magnetic field is such that the magnetic field created by the induced current opposes changes in the initial magnetic field. It is named after p ...
. The laws of induction of electric currents in mathematical form was established by Franz Ernst Neumann in 1845. Faraday's law contains the information about the relationships between both the magnitudes and the directions of its variables. However, the relationships between the directions are not explicit; they are hidden in the mathematical formula. It is possible to find out the direction of the electromotive force (emf) directly from Faraday’s law, without invoking Lenz's law. A left hand rule helps doing that, as follows:Video Explanation
* Align the curved fingers of the left hand with the loop (yellow line). * Stretch your thumb. The stretched thumb indicates the direction of (brown), the normal to the area enclosed by the loop. * Find the sign of , the change in flux. Determine the initial and final fluxes (whose difference is ) with respect to the normal , as indicated by the stretched thumb. * If the change in flux, , is positive, the curved fingers show the direction of the electromotive force (yellow arrowheads). * If is negative, the direction of the electromotive force is opposite to the direction of the curved fingers (opposite to the yellow arrowheads). For a tightly wound coil of wire, composed of identical turns, each with the same , Faraday's law of induction states that \mathcal = -N \frac where is the number of turns of wire and is the magnetic flux through a single loop.


Maxwell–Faraday equation

The Maxwell–Faraday equation states that a time-varying magnetic field always accompanies a spatially varying (also possibly time-varying), non-
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
electric field, and vice versa. The Maxwell–Faraday equation is (in SI units) where is the curl operator and again is the electric field and is the magnetic field. These fields can generally be functions of position and time . The Maxwell–Faraday equation is one of the four
Maxwell's equations Maxwell's equations, or Maxwell–Heaviside equations, are a set of coupled partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, and electric circuits. ...
, and therefore plays a fundamental role in the theory of
classical electromagnetism Classical electromagnetism or classical electrodynamics is a branch of theoretical physics that studies the interactions between electric charges and currents using an extension of the classical Newtonian model; It is, therefore, a classical fie ...
. It can also be written in an integral form by the Kelvin–Stokes theorem, thereby reproducing Faraday's law: where, as indicated in the figure, is a surface bounded by the closed contour , is an infinitesimal vector element of the contour , and is an infinitesimal vector element of surface . Its direction is orthogonal to that surface patch, the magnitude is the area of an infinitesimal patch of surface. Both and have a sign ambiguity; to get the correct sign, the right-hand rule is used, as explained in the article Kelvin–Stokes theorem. For a planar surface , a positive path element of curve is defined by the right-hand rule as one that points with the fingers of the right hand when the thumb points in the direction of the normal to the surface . The
line integral In mathematics, a line integral is an integral where the function to be integrated is evaluated along a curve. The terms ''path integral'', ''curve integral'', and ''curvilinear integral'' are also used; ''contour integral'' is used as well, al ...
around is called circulation. A nonzero circulation of is different from the behavior of the electric field generated by static charges. A charge-generated -field can be expressed as the gradient of a scalar field that is a solution to
Poisson's equation Poisson's equation is an elliptic partial differential equation of broad utility in theoretical physics. For example, the solution to Poisson's equation is the potential field caused by a given electric charge or mass density distribution; with t ...
, and has a zero path integral. See
gradient theorem The gradient theorem, also known as the fundamental theorem of calculus for line integrals, says that a line integral through a gradient field can be evaluated by evaluating the original scalar field at the endpoints of the curve. The theorem is ...
. The integral equation is true for ''any'' path through space, and any surface for which that path is a boundary. If the surface is not changing in time, the equation can be rewritten: \oint_ \mathbf \cdot \mathrm\mathbf = - \frac \int_ \mathbf \cdot \mathrm\mathbf. The surface integral at the right-hand side is the explicit expression for the magnetic flux through . The electric vector field induced by a changing magnetic flux, the solenoidal component of the overall electric field, can be approximated in the non-relativistic limit by the
volume integral In mathematics (particularly multivariable calculus), a volume integral (∭) refers to an integral over a 3-dimensional domain; that is, it is a special case of multiple integrals. Volume integrals are especially important in physics for many ...
equation \mathbf E_s (\mathbf r,t) \approx -\frac\iiint_V \ \frac d^3\mathbf


Proof

The four
Maxwell's equations Maxwell's equations, or Maxwell–Heaviside equations, are a set of coupled partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, and electric circuits. ...
(including the Maxwell–Faraday equation), along with Lorentz force law, are a sufficient foundation to derive ''everything'' in
classical electromagnetism Classical electromagnetism or classical electrodynamics is a branch of theoretical physics that studies the interactions between electric charges and currents using an extension of the classical Newtonian model; It is, therefore, a classical fie ...
. Therefore, it is possible to "prove" Faraday's law starting with these equations. The starting point is the time-derivative of flux through an arbitrary surface (that can be moved or deformed) in space: \frac = \frac\int_ \mathbf(t) \cdot \mathrm\mathbf (by definition). This total time derivative can be evaluated and simplified with the help of the Maxwell–Faraday equation and some vector identities; the details are in the box below: The result is: \frac = - \oint_ \left( \mathbf + \mathbf_ \times \mathbf \right) \cdot \mathrm\mathbf. where is the boundary (loop) of the surface , and is the velocity of a part of the boundary. In the case of a conductive loop, emf (Electromotive Force) is the electromagnetic work done on a unit charge when it has traveled around the loop once, and this work is done by the Lorentz force. Therefore, emf is expressed as \mathcal = \oint \left(\mathbf + \mathbf\times\mathbf\right) \cdot \mathrm\mathbf where \mathcal is emf and is the unit charge velocity. In a macroscopic view, for charges on a segment of the loop, consists of two components in average; one is the velocity of the charge along the segment , and the other is the velocity of the segment (the loop is deformed or moved). does not contribute to the work done on the charge since the direction of is same to the direction of \mathrm\mathbf. Mathematically, (\mathbf\times \mathbf)\cdot \mathrm\mathbf = ((\mathbf_t + \mathbf_l) \times \mathbf) \cdot \mathrm\mathbf=(\mathbf_t\times \mathbf+\mathbf_l\times \mathbf)\cdot \mathrm\mathbf = (\mathbf_l\times \mathbf)\cdot \mathrm\mathbf since (\mathbf_t\times \mathbf) is perpendicular to \mathrm\mathbf as \mathbf_t and \mathrm\mathbf are along the same direction. Now we can see that, for the conductive loop, emf is same to the time-derivative of the magnetic flux through the loop except for the sign on it. Therefore, we now reach the equation of Faraday's law (for the conductive loop) as \frac = -\mathcal where \mathcal = \oint \left(\mathbf + \mathbf\times\mathbf\right) \cdot \mathrm\mathbf. With breaking this integral, \oint\mathbf\cdot\mathrm\mathbf is for the transformer emf (due to a time-varying magnetic field) and \oint \left(\mathbf\times\mathbf\right) \cdot \mathrm\mathbf = \oint \left(\mathbf_l\times\mathbf\right) \cdot \mathrm\mathbf is for the motional emf (due to the magnetic Lorentz force on charges by the motion or deformation of the loop in the magnetic field).


Exceptions

It is tempting to generalize Faraday's law to state: ''If ' is any arbitrary closed loop in space whatsoever, then the total time derivative of magnetic flux through ' equals the emf around '.'' This statement, however, is not always true and the reason is not just from the obvious reason that emf is undefined in empty space when no conductor is present. As noted in the previous section, Faraday's law is not guaranteed to work unless the velocity of the abstract curve matches the actual velocity of the material conducting the electricity. The two examples illustrated below show that one often obtains incorrect results when the motion of is divorced from the motion of the material. File:Faraday's disc.PNG, Faraday's
homopolar generator A homopolar generator is a DC electrical generator comprising an electrically conductive disc or cylinder rotating in a plane perpendicular to a uniform static magnetic field. A potential difference is created between the center of the disc and th ...
. The disc rotates with angular rate , sweeping the conducting radius circularly in the static magnetic field (which direction is along the disk surface normal). The magnetic Lorentz force drives a current along the conducting radius to the conducting rim, and from there the circuit completes through the lower brush and the axle supporting the disc. This device generates an emf and a current, although the shape of the "circuit" is constant and thus the flux through the circuit does not change with time. File:FaradaysLawWithPlates.gif, A wire (solid red lines) connects to two touching metal plates (silver) to form a circuit. The whole system sits in a uniform magnetic field, normal to the page. If the abstract path follows the primary path of current flow (marked in red), then the magnetic flux through this path changes dramatically as the plates are rotated, yet the emf is almost zero. After ''Feynman Lectures on Physics''
One can analyze examples like these by taking care that the path moves with the same velocity as the material. Alternatively, one can always correctly calculate the emf by combining Lorentz force law with the Maxwell–Faraday equation: :\mathcal = \int_ (\mathbf + \mathbf_m \times \mathbf) \cdot \mathrm\mathbf = -\int_\Sigma \frac \cdot \mathrm\Sigma + \oint_ (\mathbf_m\times\mathbf) \cdot \mathrm\mathbf where "it is very important to notice that (1) is the velocity of the conductor ... not the velocity of the path element and (2) in general, the partial derivative with respect to time cannot be moved outside the integral since the area is a function of time."


Faraday's law and relativity


Two phenomena

Faraday's law is a single equation describing two different phenomena: the ''motional emf'' generated by a magnetic force on a moving wire (see the Lorentz force), and the ''transformer emf'' generated by an electric force due to a changing magnetic field (described by the
Maxwell–Faraday equation Faraday's law of induction (briefly, Faraday's law) is a basic law of electromagnetism predicting how a magnetic field will interact with an electric circuit to produce an electromotive force (emf)—a phenomenon known as electromagnetic induct ...
).
James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and li ...
drew attention to this fact in his 1861 paper ''
On Physical Lines of Force "On Physical Lines of Force" is a four-part paper written by James Clerk Maxwell published in 1861. In it, Maxwell derived the equations of electromagnetism in conjunction with a "sea" of "molecular vortices" which he used to model Faraday's li ...
''. In the latter half of Part II of that paper, Maxwell gives a separate physical explanation for each of the two phenomena. A reference to these two aspects of electromagnetic induction is made in some modern textbooks.
Note that the law relating flux to emf, which this article calls "Faraday's law", is referred to in Griffiths' terminology as the "universal flux rule". Griffiths uses the term "Faraday's law" to refer to what this article calls the "Maxwell–Faraday equation". So in fact, in the textbook, Griffiths' statement is about the "universal flux rule".
As Richard Feynman states:


Explanation based on four-dimensional formalism

In the general case, explanation of the ''motional emf'' appearance by action of the magnetic force on the charges in the moving wire or in the circuit changing its area is unsatisfactory. As a matter of fact, the charges in the wire or in the circuit could be completely absent, will then the electromagnetic induction effect disappear in this case? This situation is analyzed in the article, in which, when writing the integral equations of the electromagnetic field in a four-dimensional covariant form, in the Faraday’s law the total time derivative of the magnetic flux through the circuit appears instead of the partial time derivative. Thus, electromagnetic induction appears either when the magnetic field changes over time or when the area of the circuit changes. From the physical point of view, it is better to speak not about the induction emf, but about the induced electric field strength \mathbf E = - \nabla \mathcal - \frac, that occurs in the circuit when the magnetic flux changes. In this case, the contribution to \mathbf E from the change in the magnetic field is made through the term - \frac , where \mathbf A is the vector potential. If the circuit area is changing in case of the constant magnetic field, then some part of the circuit is inevitably moving, and the electric field \mathbf E emerges in this part of the circuit in the comoving reference frame K’ as a result of the Lorentz transformation of the magnetic field \mathbf B, present in the stationary reference frame K, which passes through the circuit. The presence of the field \mathbf E in K’ is considered as a result of the induction effect in the moving circuit, regardless of whether the charges are present in the circuit or not. In the conducting circuit, the field \mathbf E causes motion of the charges. In the reference frame K, it looks like appearance of emf of the induction \mathcal , the gradient of which in the form of - \nabla \mathcal , taken along the circuit, seems to generate the field \mathbf E.


Einstein's view

Reflection on this apparent dichotomy was one of the principal paths that led
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
to develop
special relativity In physics, the special theory of relativity, or special relativity for short, is a scientific theory regarding the relationship between space and time. In Albert Einstein's original treatment, the theory is based on two postulates: # The laws ...
:


See also


References


Further reading

*


External links

*
A simple interactive tutorial on electromagnetic induction
(click and drag magnet back and forth)
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) is a facility at Florida State University, the University of Florida, and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, that performs magnetic field research in physics, biology, bioengineering ...

Roberto Vega. ''Induction: Faraday's law and Lenz's law'' – Highly animated lecture, with sound effects


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120617020014/http://usna.edu/Users/physics/tank/Public/FaradaysLaw.pdf Tankersley and Mosca: ''Introducing Faraday's law''
A free simulation on motional emf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Electromagnetic Induction Electrodynamics Michael Faraday Maxwell's equations