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Key Points on Chapter 23:Faraday's Law and Inductance
- Emf is due to electrostatic charges.
- Emf can be produced by a loop of wire in
a magnetic field.
- The emf is minus the rate of of magnetic flux through
the loop.
- A changing magnetic field produces an field.
- Lenz' law says that an induced current would
the change in flux.
- The power dissipation equals the rate of .
- inductance is purely a geometrical quantity.
- The self-induced flux through a loop is proportional to the .
- The proportionality constant is called the .
- The unit of inductance is the .
- is stored in magnetic fields.
- A raises or lowers the voltage without changing
the power supplied.
- The time constant in an RL circuit is .
- inductances in series to get the equivalent inductance.
- Add inductances in parallel to get the
equivalent inverse inductance.
Lectures on Chapter 23: Faraday's Law and Inductance
EMF
It takes work to move charges around a circuit. The emf
is the amount of work done per unit charge
Recall that work is defined as
The work done in dragging a charge around a circuit is
Let
be the force per unit charge
Then the work per unit charge done in dragging a charge around a
circuit is the emf
:
Emf is due to electrostatic charges.
We might be tempted to say that
where
is the electrostatic electric field set up by
charges. But you can't get a steady current flow by putting some
charges near a wire. If you put a wire in an external electrostatic
field produced by stationary charges, the charges in the
conducting wire would quickly rearrange themselves to make the wire
an equipotential. But you need a voltage drop to get current to flow.
Another way to see that
is to note that
Emf due to
is zero.
Recall our definition of electric potential
=1.0 true in
If we start at point
, go around a loop, and end at point
a, then
So in our expression
,
is a force per unit charge that is not due to electrostatic
charges.
is a force that keeps the charges moving.
doesn't do this.
can be the electric
field
produced by an ongoing chemical reaction in a battery.
Or
can be the force produced by the conveyor belt in a van de
Graaff generator.
Emf can be produced by a loop of wire in
a magnetic field.
One of the most important sources of an emf is
caused by the motion of a loop of wire through a
magnetic field. This is the principle behind
electric generators. In the shaded region,
there is a uniform magnetic field
,
pointing into the page, and the resistor
represents whatever it is (maybe a light bulb
or a toaster) we're trying to drive a current
through.
=3.0 true in
If the loop is pulled to the right
with velocity
, the charges in the vertical
segment
feel a magnetic force
in the
direction of the wire. (The other segments feel forces
perpendicular to the wire.) The figure below shows the forces
if
.
=3.0 true in
The force
on the charges in the segment
drives a current
around the loop in the clockwise direction. The force per unit
charge is
=2.0 true in
Let
= height of loop = distance from
to
. Then the emf is
 |
(1) |
The integrals from
and from
are 0 because
. The integral
from
is zero because it is outside the
field.
So
The emf is minus the rate of of magnetic flux through
the loop.
We can relate the emf to the magnetic flux
through the loop.
This is like the electric flux
that we defined for Gauss' law. However, the surface
we are
integrating over for
is not closed.
is an element of
the surface pointing in the direction normal to the element
.
Which normal you pick is arbitrary at the moment. But it will turn
out that
points according to the right hand rule for the curve
.
. You can think of
as the
number of magnetic field lines piercing the surface
.
=1.5 true in
Units
Let's calculate the flux through our loop.
=2.5 true in
Let's choose the normal
to the loop
to point into the page.
When we evaluated
, we
went around the loop in a specific direction.
If the fingers of our right hand curl in this
direction, our thumb points in the direction
of the normal
. So
points in the same direction as
. So
points in the same direction as
. Then
As the loop moves, the flux decreases:
We need the minus sign to indicate that the flux is decreasing.
Compare this with our expression for the emf:
 |
(2) |
 |
(3) |
This is called Faraday's Law.
Thus the emf generated is minus the rate of change of flux through
the loop. We derived this relation for a special case but it is true
in general. This is true for a loop of arbitrary shape moving in any
direction through a magnetic field. If we have a coil with
turns
of wire that experiences changing flux, then an induced emf appears
in every turn and we add these emf's:
Faraday's law is the principle behind electric generators. Emf that
can drive electric currents are generated by changing the flux
through coils of wire.
=2.5 true in
A changing magnetic field produces an field.
So far we have been considering a static
field and a moving
loop. What happens if we hold the loop stationary and move the
source of the magnetic field with a velocity opposite to that of the
loop when it was moved? Faraday found that exactly the same emf is
produced. What matters is the relative motion of the loop and
. How did Faraday interpret this? What makes the charges
move?
because the velocity
of the charge is zero (the loop is
stationary). To get the electrons to flow, we need an electric
field. This must mean that a time varying
field
produces an
field! To see this mathematically, note that
 |
(4) |
and
 |
(5) |
Here the closed loop
is spanned by the
surface
.
=1.5 true in
The direction of
around
is related to the direction of
by
the right hand rule. Notice that the changing
magnetic field on the right hand side of the
equation produces the
field on the left hand side.
Faraday's law tells us that we can generate an
field simply by
changing the magnetic flux. It doesn't matter how we change the
flux. We can move the loop, or we can move the magnet, or we can
just increase or decrease the magnetic field while the loop and the
magnet are stationary. Actually, you don't need to have a wire to
induce an
field. In empty space, a changing
field
will induce an
field. Applications: generators, microphones,
stereo speakers.
Lenz's Law
Lenz' law says that an induced current would
the change in flux.
Lenz's law gives us an easy way to keep track of the direction of
current flow induced by changing flux:
``The emf induced is in such a direction, that if a current flows, the
magnetic field produced by the induced current opposes the change in
flux that produced the emf."
This is the meaning of the minus sign in Faraday's law. Analogy:
Let's suppose money going into your bank account is like magnetic
flux going through a loop of wire. Suppose you earn $1000/month
which you put into your bank account. Now if your boss says that
you're going to get a pay cut and that you'll be earning $500/month,
you would oppose this change. There's still money going into your
bank account, but it's less. There's still flux going through the
loop, but it's less. So you would try to supplement your earnings
with an extra job. The loop has an induced current flowing in it
that supplements the external reduced flux.
=3.0 true in
You probably wouldn't oppose a salary raise so let me draw another
analogy. Let's suppose you are in a boat in the middle of a lake.
The boat springs a leak and water starts to pour in. This is like
increasing flux through the loop. You would oppose this change by
trying to reduce the amount of water pouring in; i.e., by bailing
water out of the boat. Similarly, the induced current in the loop
produces flux opposite to the increasing external
flux.
=2.5 true in
The basic message of Lenz's law: Oppose change.
Example: Jumping Ring
=1.0 true in
If you place a metal ring on top of a solenoid,
then turn on the current in the solenoid, the
ring will jump off. (It helps to have an iron
core in the solenoid to increase the
field.)
Why does the ring jump off? When you turn on the
current, the flux through the ring suddenly increases from zero to
non-zero value
. This induces
an emf in the ring that drives a current in the ring. According to
Lenz's law, the induced current in the ring will produce a
field in the opposite direction to that of the solenoid. So like 2
bar magnets
, the ring and solenoid repel and
the ring flies off.
Example
=3.0 true in
A uniform magnetic field
, pointing straight up, fills
the shaded circular region. If it changes with time, what is the
induced electric field
?
Solution: Draw a loop
of radius
and apply Faraday's law.
 |
(6) |
where
= surface spanned by loop C. Let's evaluate the
left hand and right hand sides of this equation.
Once you figure out which way
points, use the right
hand rule to get the direction of
.
=2.0 true in
If the circular region is
mounted on a wheel that's free to rotate and there is a line of
uniform charge mounted on the rim of the wheel, then the
wheel will start to spin as the
field
decreases because the induced
field will push
the charges and hence the wheel. Where does
the angular momentum come from? It can't
come from nowhere because angular momentum is
conserved. It turns out that the angular
momentum comes from
the
and
fields.
and
have energy,
momentum, and angular momentum. The angular momentum density is
.
Power Dissipation
The power dissipation equals the rate of .
=3.0 true in
Let's revisit the loop of wire that we were pulling out of the
magnetic field. We saw that the emf induces a current
that tries
to replenish the flux. The current in the loop feels a force
The forces are shown in the figure.
Since
, they cancel out. Only
survives.
opposes the force we use to pull
the loop out of the
field. Note that
and
. So
 |
(7) |
We can find
by noting that
and
You do work on the loop because
opposes you. You must
apply at least a force
that is equal and opposite to
to keep the loop moving.
is like friction
force. (Do you need to apply more than
to keep the loop
moving? No, if
= constant,
 |
(8) |
The rate at which you do work is the power you expend:
 |
(9) |
The rate at which you do work is turned into power dissipated in the
resistor
:
Notice that
, i.e., the rate of dissipating power in the
resistor equals the rate at which you do work.
Inductance
Suppose we have 2 loops of wire with one above the other.
=2.0 true in
If we run a current
through loop 1, it will produce a magnetic field
. Let
be the flux of
passing through loop 2:
From the Biot-Savart law
 |
(10) |
we see that
is proportional to
which implies that
is
proportional to
:
 |
(11) |
where the constant of proportionality
is called the
mutual inductance.
inductance is purely a geometrical quantity.
There are 2 things to note about mutual inductance:
- This is a purely geometric quantity. It depends on the sizes,
shapes, and
relative distance of the loops. It does not depend on the current
.
-
.
This implies that the flux
through 2 produced by a current
flowing through loop 1 is exactly the same as the flux
,
through 1 produced by
flowing through loop 2:
=1.0 true in
If we vary the current in loop 1,
will vary and this will produce an
emf in loop 2:
So loop 1 can generate a current in loop 2 without touching it.
Note that if the flux is through a coil with N turns, then
.
=2.0 true in
Thus
Self-Inductance
The self-induced flux through a loop is proportional to the.
The proportionality constant is called the .
We don't need two loops to see this effect. If we have only one loop
with a current flowing around it, the current produces a
field. This
field produces a flux through the loop.
=1.0 true in
The flux is proportional to the current:
 |
(12) |
where
is the current. The constant of proportionality
is called the
self-inductance of
the loop. As with
, it depends solely on the geometry (size and shape) of
the loop. If the current changes, then there will be a changing flux
through the loop which in turn will produce an emf in the loop given
by Faraday's law:
The minus sign implies that whenever we change the current, the change produces
a "back emf" that opposes the change. Thus currents want to stay constant. L
gives the system inertia. It acts like a mass does in a mechanical system.
Units of Inductance
The unit of inductance is the .
Inductance is measured in henries (H):
Note that if we replace a loop with a coil that has N turns, then
:
 |
(13) |
and
 |
(14) |
as before.
Recipe to Calculate Inductance 
Problem: Given geometry of inductor, find the self-inductance
.
Recipe for the Solution: Use
 |
(15) |
- Assume current
flows through the inductor.
- Calculate
using Ampere's Law or Biot-Savart Law.
- Calculate flux
.
- Use
where
= total number of turns of
wire in the inductor
Inductance of a Solenoid
=2.0 true in
Suppose we have a very long solenoid with cross sectional area A and
n turns per unit length. What is the self-inductance per unit length
?
Solution: Use
 |
(16) |
For a length
of the solenoid, there are
turns.
Assume a current
flows through the coil.
(This is analogous to assuming a charge
on a
capacitor when we calculate capacitance.) To calculate the flux
, we need
.
=2.0 true in
To find
, use Ampere's law:
Energy Stored in Magnetic Fields
is stored in magnetic fields.
In order to get current started in a current loop, we need to do work against
the back emf that opposes the increase in current. The work we do gets stored
as potential energy. So to find the potential energy, we calculate how much
work is done as follows. The rate of doing work (or power going into the
inductor) is given by:
 |
(17) |
Note that
, the current. To find
, note that
the back emf
. So the work done by the
battery per unit
charge to overcome the back emf is
.
(Recall that
is the work lost per unit charge in going
through the inductor. The energy gained by the magnetic field is minus this.)
Thus
Integrate, starting from
at
, to get the total amount of
work done by the battery to get to current
:
Since this work goes into magnetic potential energy
, we have
 |
(18) |
or
 |
(19) |
Once we get the current going, where did all the energy we put into the system
go? Answer: the energy is stored in the magnetic field. In fact the energy
density is given by
This equation is true in general. However, let's prove it for the special case
of an infinite solenoid.
=2.0 true in
Plug
into
where
is the length of a section of the solenoid and
is the cross
sectional area of the solenoid. So
is the volume of that
section of solenoid. To get
in terms of
, note that
in a solenoid.
 |
(20) |
So
 |
(21) |
To get rid of the self-inductance
, we recall that
So
 |
(22) |
as advertised.
This is the magnetic analog of
.
Transformers
A raises or lowers the voltage without changing
the power supplied.
Electric power plants send electricity to us over high voltage power
lines. The power they supply is
. They make the voltage
large and the current
small. To see why, note that
the transmission lines have a small amount of resistance
, and the power lost in heating the transmission line is
.
To reduce losses, they make
small so that
will be small.
They make the voltage
high so that they can transmit a large
amount of power
.
But we don't want to operate our appliances at 10 kV. We operate
our appliances at 110 V. To convert the high voltage of the
transmission line into a smaller voltage, a transformer is used.
=2.5 true in
A transformer is a device that either raises or lowers the voltage
without changing the power
supplied. It works with an
AC or alternating current. It consists of 2 solenoidal coils
wrapped around a cylinder in such a way that the same amount
of flux passes through every turn. Usually the cylinder is an
iron core, which has the effect of concentrating the magnetic
flux. (I have drawn the coils separated so that you can see
them easily. It's a mess if I draw them intertwined.)
The primary coil has
turns and the secondary coil
has
turns. Let
be the magnetic flux through the iron
core. Since there is an AC current, the flux is changing with
time. It oscillates and changes direction. Faraday's law tells us
that a changing flux induces an emf:
 |
(23) |
The voltage in each coil is equal to the emf induced in that
coil. Let
and
be the voltages induced across the
primary and secondary coils, respectively. Then
 |
(24) |
The same amount of flux passes through each turn, so the emf
induced in each turn is
 |
(25) |
or
 |
(26) |
This is the key to how a transformer works. If
, then
. This is called a step-up transformer because it
steps the voltage
up to a higher voltage
. If
, then
. This is called a step-down
transformer because it steps the voltage
down to a lower voltage
.
RL Circuits
Consider a circuit with a resistor and an inductor in series.
=2.5 true in
When we close the
switch on
, current starts to flow
. The rise in current produces an induced emf in the inductor that
opposes the rise in current:
. As time
goes on, the rate of increase of the current becomes less rapid and the
magnitude of the self-induced emf,
, decreases
because
decreases. As
, the current
becomes steady and constant,
, and
, i.e., the total
voltage drop is across the resistor.
When the switch
is closed, we get the equivalent
circuit:
=2.5 true in
Let's apply the loop rule. We go around the circuit in a clockwise
fashion. Then we get voltage drops across the resistor and inductor
and a voltage gain from the battery.
 |
(27) |
or
We want to solve this for
with the initial condition
, i.e., initially there is no current. The solution is
 |
(28) |
You can check this by plugging
and
into
and seeing that it works. Let's look at
 |
(29) |
=2.0 true in
At
,
as desired. Since the voltage drop
across the resistor is
, there is no voltage drop across the resistor
at
. All the voltage drop is initially across the
inductor. As
,
, and
, i.e., all the voltage drop is across the
resistor. Since
approaches a constant
,
and no voltage drops across the inductor
as
. Graphically we have:
=4.0 true in
Time Constant
The time constant in an RL circuit is .
If we write
where
,
the inductive time constant
describes the
characteristic time over which the current rises to an appreciable value.
(Since the exponent
must be dimensionless,
must
have the dimensions of time. You can also check explicitly that
= time.) If we set
,
 |
(30) |
i.e., the current has reached 63% of its final value at
.
=2.5 true in
What happens if we remove the battery by closing the switch to
?
(Close
before opening a so the current keeps flowing.) Then our circuit
looks like
=2.0 true in
Without a battery the current will decrease with time:
.
Once again the inductor will resist this change by producing a back
emf (
). We can write down a differential equation for
this circuit by
applying the loop rule (or by setting
in our previous
equation):
The solution of this equation is
 |
(31) |
where
.
At
,
.
As
,
the current
is decaying to zero as expected. The characteristic time associated
with this decay is
. At
,
 |
(32) |
i.e., the current has decayed to 37% of its original value.
=2.0 true in
Adding Inductances
inductances in series to get the equivalent inductance.
(Your book forgets to tell you this.)
If there are 2 or more inductors in a circuit you add them the same way as you
do resistors.
In Series
=2.0 true in
Suppose we shut switch
in the circuit shown. Then the current
starts to
flow. Since
increases,
. The loop rule gives
 |
(33) |
The sum of the voltage drops across
and
equals the
total voltage
across them. So we can write
where
 |
(34) |
=2.0 true in
Compare this to
which is the relation for
resistors in series. In general, for n inductors in series,
 |
(35) |
In Parallel
Add inductances in parallel to get the
equivalent inverse inductance.
=2.0 true in
Suppose we shut the switch in a circuit where the inductors are in parallel.
Then the voltage drop across each inductor is the same but the current through
each is different if
. Thus
Now use the junction rule:
where
 |
(36) |
=2.0 true in
Compare this to
for resistors in
parallel. In general, for
inductors in parallel,
 |
(37) |
Next: About this document ...
Clare Yu
2007-03-12