Electric and Magnetic Fields

• Electric and magnetic fields

  Invisible zones of energy that act between objects
• Electric and magnetic fields

  • Can be attractive or repulsive
  • Can occur between objects without touching
• Magnetic field


  The area around a magnet or electric current in which a magnetic force acts

  
• Electric field


  The area around a charged particle or object in which a force is exerted on other charged particles or objects

  
• The strength of electric and magnetic fields


  Is controlled by the distance between the objects. The closer they are, the stronger the force.

  
• Charged particles


  • Exert attractive forces on each other when their charges are opposite
  • Exert repulsive forces on each other when their charges are the same
• Magnets


  • Have a North Pole and a South Pole
  • North and South poles attract each other
  • North/North and South/South poles repel each other

  
• The Earth is a large magnet and has a north and south pole

  
• How electric power generators work

  Steam turns a turbine between the poles of a large magnet, creating electricity
• The Earth's magnetic field protects the Earth by deflecting solar winds, which are charged particles from the sun

  
• Magnetic compasses use Earth's magnetic field to navigate north, south, east, west

  
• A collapsed star, known as a neutron star, has the strongest magnetic force of any object in the universe