Chapter 5

Electromagnetic Induction
 Overview

In the last chapter, we studied how a current produces a

magnetic field. Here we will study the reverse effect: A
magnetic field can produce an electric field that can drive a
current. This link between a magnetic field and the electric
field it produces (induces) is now called Faraday’s law of
induction.
 Contents

5.1. Faraday’s Law of Induction

5.2. Lenz’s Law
5.3. Induction and Energy Transfers
5.4. Induced Electric Fields
5.5. Inductors and Inductance
5.6. Self-Induction
5.7. RL Circuits
5.8. Energy Stored in a Magnetic Field
5.9. Mutual Induction
5.1. Faraday’s Law of Induction
5.1.1. First Experiment:
If we move a bar magnet toward/away from the loop, a
current appears in the circuit:
 1. A current appears only if there is
relative motion between the loop and the
magnet.
2. Faster motion produces a greater
current.
3. If moving the magnet’s north pole toward
the loop causes, say, clockwise current,
then moving the north pole away causes
counterclockwise current.
Moving the south pole toward or away from
the loop also causes currents, but in the
reversed directions.

Induced current: the current thus produced in the loop is called.

Induced emf (electromotive force): the work done per unit charge to
produce the induced current
Induction: the process of producing the current
5.1.2. Second Experiment:

• Two conducting loops close to each

other but not touching
• If we close switch S, to turn on a
current in the right-hand loop, the
meter suddenly and briefly registers
a current—an induced current—in the
left-hand loop
• If we then open the switch, another
sudden and brief induced current
appears in the left hand loop, but in
the opposite direction

We get an induced current (and thus an induced emf) only when the
current in the right-hand loop is changing (either turning on or turning
off) and not when it is constant (even if it is large)
5.1.3. Faraday’s Law of Induction (the magnitude of induced emf):
An emf is induced in a loop when the number of magnetic field lines that pass
through the loop is changing.

• Suppose a loop enclosing an area A is placed in a magnetic field B.

Then the magnetic flux through the loop is
 



 B  BdA (magnetic flux through area A)

dA: is a vector of magnitude dA perpendicular to a differential area

dA
• If the loop lies in a plane and the magnetic field is perpendicular to
the plane of the loop, and if the magnetic field is constant, then
 
B  BA ( Barea A, B uniform)
The SI unit for magnetic flux is the tesla–square meter, which is
called the weber (abbreviated Wb):

 1 weber = 1 Wb = 1Tm2
The magnitude of the emf ε induced in a conducting loop is equal to the rate at
which the magnetic flux ΦB through that loop changes with time.

dB
  (Faraday's law)
dt
• If a coil has N turns (closely packed):

dB
  N (coil of N turns)
 dt
Here are the general means by which we can change the magnetic flux
through a coil:
1.Change B within the coil.
 either the total area of the coil or the portion of that area
2.Change
that lies within the magnetic field (e.g., by expanding or sliding the coil
into or out of the field).
3. Change the angle between the direction of the magnetic field B and
the plane of the coil (e.g., by rotating the coil)
5.2. Lenz’s Law (the direction of induced current):
An induced current has a direction such that the magnetic field due to the current
opposes the change in the magnetic flux that induces the current.

Animation
Opposition to Pole Movement:
• The approach of the magnet’s north
pole increases the magnetic flux through
the loop, inducing a current in the loop.
• To oppose the magnetic flux increase
being caused by the approaching magnet,
the loop’s north pole (and the magnetic
moment m) must face toward the
approaching north pole so as to repel it.
• The current induced in the loop must be
counterclockwise.

•If we next pull the magnet away from the loop, a current will again be
induced in the loop. Now, the loop will have a south pole facing the
retreating north pole of the magnet, so as to oppose the retreat. Thus, the
induced current will be clockwise.
The direction of the current i induced in a loop is such that the
current’s magnetic field Bind opposes the change in the magnetic
field inducing i. The field is always directed opposite an increasing
field (a, c) and in the same direction (b, d) as a decreasing field B.

The curled–straight right-hand rule gives the direction of the

induced current based on the direction of the induced field.
5.3. Induction and Energy Transfers:
• If the loop is pulled at a
constant velocity v, one
must apply a constant force
F to the loop since an equal
and opposite magnetic force
acts on the loop to oppose
it. The power is P = Fv.

• As the loop is pulled, the

portion of its area within
the magnetic field, and
therefore the magnetic flux,
decrease.

• According to Faraday’s
law, a current is produced
in the loop. The magnitude
of the flux through the loop
is B = BA = BLx.
The induced emf magnitude: dB d dx
  BLx  BL  BLv
dt dt dt
The induced current:
BLv
i
R
The net deflecting force:
 2 2
B Lv
F  F1  iLBsin90  iLB 
0

R
The power: 
B 2 L2v 2
P  Fv 
R

 Therefore, the work that you do in pulling the loop through the
magnetic field appears as thermal energy in the loop. Regardless of
how current is induced in the loop, energy is always transferred to
 during the process because of the electrical
thermal energy
resistance of the loop.
Induction and Energy Transfers: Eddy Currents

(a) As you pull a solid conducting plate out of a magnetic field, eddy
currents are induced in the plate. A typical loop of eddy current is shown
(in fact, the conduction electrons swirl about within the plate as if they
were caught in an eddy (whirlpool) of water.

(b) A conducting plate swings like a pendulum about a pivot and

into a region of magnetic field. As it enters and leaves the field, eddy
currents are induced in the plate  mechanical energy transferred to
thermal energy  the warmed-up plate just hangs from its pivot.
Induction and Energy Transfers: Burns During MRI Scans

• A patient undergoing an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan lies in

apparatus with two magnetic fields: a large constant field Bcon and a small
sinusoidally varying field B(t). The scan requires the patient to lie
motionless for a long time.
• Any patient unable to lie motionless, e.g. a child, is sedated. This
requires a general anesthetic and the patient must be carefully monitored
with a pulse oximeter.
• If the oximeter cable touches the patient’s arm and a closed loop is
formed. B(t) varies with t, causing the finger and the skin were burned.
5.4. Induced Electric Fields:
• Place a copper ring of radius r in a uniform external magnetic field
• We then increase B at a steady state
• According to Faraday’s law, there is an induced emf, hence a current is
counterclockwise in the ring (use Lenz’s law).
• A current in the ring requires an electric field to be present along the
ring and it is called the induced electric field.
• Even if there is no copper ring, the electric field is still induced
• In Figure b, the electric field induced at various points around the
circular path must be tangent to the circle

loops 1, 2: equal emfs

loop 3: smaller emf
region of changing B loop 4: no net emf
Induced Electric Fields, Reformulation of Faraday’s Law:

Consider a particle of charge q0 moving around the circular path in

Figure b. The work W done on it in one revolution by the induced
electric field is W =q0, where  is the induced emf.
 
From another point of view, the work is

W  Fds  (q0 E )( 2r )
Here where q0E is the magnitude of the force acting on the test
charge and 2πr is the distance over which that force acts.

  2rE
     
In general,

W  Fds  q0 Eds  
  Eds

  d B
  Eds  
dt
(Faraday' s law)

 This equation shows that a changing magnetic field induces an

electric field.
Induced Electric Fields, A New Look at Electric Potential:
• Induced electric fields are produced not by static charges
but by a changing magnetic flux.
• There is an important difference between them: The field
lines of induced electric fields form closed loops The fields
lines produced by static charges do not, leading us to a more
formal sense:

We can understand this statement qualitatively:

f
 

for a closed loop: V  V  Eds  0

• For electric fields produced by charges: V f  Vi   Eds ,
f i    d B
i

• For induced electric fields:

Eds  
dt
0
Thus, assigning electric potential to an induced electric field
leads us to a contradiction. We conclude that electric potential
has no meaning for electric fields associated with induction.
5.5. Inductors and Inductance: An inductor (symbol ) can
be used to produce a desired
magnetic field. If we establish a
current i in the windings (turns)
of the solenoid which can be
treated as our inductor, the
current produces a magnetic
flux B through the central
region of the inductor.
The inductance of the inductor
is then
NB
L (inductance defined)
i
NB: the magnetic flux linkage

The SI unit of inductance is

the tesla–square meter per ampere (T m2/A).
We call this the henry (H), after American physicist Joseph Henry,
Inductance of a Solenoid:
Consider a long solenoid of cross-sectional area A, with number of
turns N, and of length l. The flux is N  (nl)(BA)
B

Here n is the number of turns per unit length.

The magnitude of B is given by: B  0in


NB (nl)(BA) (nl)(0in)(A)
Therefore, L    0 n 2 lA
i i i

The inductance per unit length near the center is therefore:

 L
 0 n 2 A (solenoid)
l
Here,


5.6. Self-Induction:
An induced emf εL appears in any coil in which the current is changing
• If i is changed by varying R, a self-induced emf εL will appear in
the coil.
• This process is called self-induction,
and the emf is called a self-induced
emf. It also obeys Faraday’s law of
induction:
d(NB )
L  
dt
NB  Li
di
 L  L (self - induced emf)
dt
• The self-induced emf has the orientation
 such that it opposes the
change in current i


5.7. RL Circuits:
• Consider a circuit below, if S is on a:

There are two emfs in the circuit:

-A constant emf ε due to the battery
-A variable εL = -Ldi/dt (Faraday’s law),
from Lenz’s law this emf opposes the
rise of the current, which means that
it opposes ε in polarity.

• As time goes on, i increases less rapid, L becomes smaller

and therefore current i approaches /R
We now analyze the statements quantitatively:
Using the loop rule:
di
 iR  L    0
dt
or di
L  Ri  
dt
the solution is: 
i
R

1  e Rt / L

we define the inductive time
constant:
L
 L  (inductive time constant)
R


i
R

1 e t / L
(rise of current)
If we suddenly remove the emf from this same circuit, the
current does not immediately fall to zero but approaches
zero in an exponential fashion:
di
L  Ri  0
dt

i e t / L  i0e t /L (decay of current)
R
5.8. Energy Stored in a Magnetic Field:
di
 L  iR
dt
di
i  Li  i 2R
dt
i: the rate of at which the emf device

delivers energy to the rest of the circuit
i2R: the rate of thermal energy in the resistor

dU B di
 Li : This is the rate at which magnetic potential
dt dt energy UB is stored in the magnetic field.
UB i

 dU B   Lidi
0 0

1 2
U B  Li (magnetic energy)
2

This represents the total energy stored by an inductor L carrying
a current i.
Energy Density of a Magnetic Field:
Consider a length l near the middle of a long solenoid of cross-
sectional area A carrying current i; the volume associated with this
length is Al.
The energy UB stored by the length l of the solenoid must lie entirely
within this volume because the magnetic field outside such a solenoid
is approximately zero. Also, the stored energy must be uniformly
distributed within the solenoid because the magnetic field is
(approximately) uniform everywhere inside.

Thus, the energy stored per unit volume of the field is

UB
uB 
Al
1 2
UB  Li
2
2 2
 u  Li L i 1
B   0 n 2 2
i
2Al l 2A 2
 B2
B  0in  uB 
20
(magnetic energy density)
 5.9. Mutual Induction:

If two coils are close together and if we change the current i in one
coil, an emf ε appears in the second coil. We call this mutual induction
to distinguish it from self-induction.
The mutual inductance M21 of coil 2 with respect to coil 1 is
defined as N 221
M 21 
i1
 di1 d21
 M 21  N2
dt dt

The right side of this equation is, according to

Faraday’s law, just the magnitude of the emf 2

appearing in coil 2 due to the changing current
in coil 1.
di1
 2  M 21
dt
Similarly for case b,
di2
 1  M12
dt
M12 and M21 are in fact the same, so:

 M21  M12  M
Unit for M is the henry (H)

Homework: 1, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 20, 27, 29, 32, 37, 40,
47, 55, 56, 63, 68, 73 (pages 818-824)