The following animation illustrates the principle of the electromagnetic force effect. The animation shows an experimental setup in which a current-carrying conductor is exposed to an external magnetic field. The Lorentz force law predicts that a force acts on the conductor. This force is noticeable in the animation in that the conductor is deflected to one side.
Note on use
As with all animations, the windows can be enlarged or reduced by clicking on them.
After starting the application, you can view the animation in full-screen mode. To do this, click on “View” and then on “Full screen”:
To exit full screen mode, press the Esc key.
Description of the animation
The deflection of the material can be explained by the Lorentz force. The Lorentz force is the force that acts on a moving electron in a magnetic field.
q: charge of the electron
v: velocity of the electron
B: strength of the magnetic field,
θ: angle between the direction of movement of the electron and the direction of the magnetic field.
Applied to the scene shown in the animation, the Lorentz force can be expressed as follows:
B: strength of the magnetic field,
I: current in the conductor,
L: length of the conductor in the magnetic field
θ: angle between current direction and magnetic field.
The intensity and direction of the current can be set using a virtual controller. The magnetic force effect and the deflection of the conductor adapt accordingly.
The two-dimensional view also shows the resulting magnetic field, which is created by merging the static and dynamic magnetic fields.
Note: The animation takes into account the difference between technical and physical current direction. Electrons, indicated by blue spheres, show the physical current direction.
Overview and download
| Titel | Electromagnetic force effect |
| Target group | Teachers and lecturers |
| Platforms | Microsoft® Windows® Apple® Macintosh® (version dependent) |
| Features | Full screen mode lossless zoom Large screens and projection screens supported |
| Licence | Freeware |
| Download | Contact us |
Contributors
C. Hein, S. Rikowski
Source information
- 3D engine for 3D model: Papervision3D 2.0
- 3D rotations: Algorithm adopted from Federico Calvo
(http://blog.federicocalvo.com/2009/03/papervision-3d-sphere-globla-axis.html) - Curved field lines: Class Bezier3D by Aleksandar Mancic
- Authoring tool (control elements included): Adobe Animate
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