Hans Christian

Oersted

Hans Christian Oersted, one of the leading scientists

of the 19th century, played a crucial role in
understanding [Link] 1820 he
accidentally discovered that a compass needle got
deflected when an electric current passed through a
metallic wire placed nearby. Through this observation
• Magnet - A Magnet is defined as a physical object that
generates a field around itself and exerts a force of attraction or
repulsion on a material of the similar kind.
• Magnetism – Magnetism is the force exerted by magnets when
they attract or repel each other.
• Why does a compass needle get deflected when
brought near a bar magnet?

The needle of a compass is a small magnet. That’s why

when a compass needle is brought near a bar magnet, its
magnetic field lines interact with that of the bar magnet.
Hence, the compass needle gets deflected.
• Magnetic filed and Field lines
• A magnetic field is a picture that we use as a tool to
describe how the magnetic force is distributed in the
space around and within something magnetic like a bar
magnet.
Magnetic field lines
Magnetic field is a quantity that has both direction and
magnitude.
• The direction of the magnetic field is taken to be the
direction in which north pole of the compass needle
moves inside it. Therefore it is taken by convention that
the field lines emerge from north pole and merge at the
south pole (note the arrows marked on the field line.
• Inside the magnet, the direction of field lines is from its
south pole to its north pole. Thus the magnetic field
lines are closed curves
Current is generally defined as the rate of flow of charge. We
already know that stationary charges produce an electric field
proportional to the charge’s magnitude. The same principle can be
applied here. Moving charges produce magnetic fields which are
proportional to the current, and hence a current carrying
conductor produces a magnetic effect around it. This magnetic
field is generally attributed to the sub-atomic particles in the
conductor, for e.g. The moving electrons in the atomic orbitals.

• A magnetic field has both magnitude and direction. Hence, it is a

vector quantity denoted by B (in the diagram below). The
magnetic field due to a current-carrying conductor depends on
the conductor’s current and the distance from the point. The
direction of the magnetic field is perpendicular to the wire. If you
wrap your right hand’s fingers around the wire with your thumb
pointing in the direction of the current, then the direction in
which the fingers would curl will give the direction of the
magnetic field. This will be clearer with the diagram below,
where the red lines represent the magnetic field lines
Magnetic Field due to a Current through a Straight
Conductor
• Force of magnetism is generally produced due to a moving
charge or magnetic material.
• The magnetic field produced due to a current-carrying
conductor has the following characteristics:

It encircles the conductor.

It lies in a plane perpendicular to the conductor.
Reversal in the current flow direction reverses,, the field’s direction.
Strength of the field is directly proportional to the magnitude of the current.
• Strength of the field at any point is inversely proportional to the
distance of the point from the wire.
Magnetic Field due to a Current through a
Circular Loop
Circular loop is a collection of many straight lines. Here, one
end of a circular loop is connected to a positive end of a
battery and another end is connected with the negative end
of the battery. So, current can flow and in the circular loop.
We know that when current flows in a conductor, the
magnetic field will get generated which can produce
magnetic field lines
• The magnetic field lines are in the form of
concentric circles near the sides of the loop but
towards the centre of the loop, the magnetic field
lines become almost parallel which indicates that
this part of the coil has a uniform magnetic field.
In other words, we can say that at the centre of
the circular loop, magnetic field lines become
straight lines. At every point of a loop, the
concentric circles representing the magnetic field
around it would become larger and larger as we
move away from the loop. The strength increases
as we go closer to the centre of the loop.
As we move away from the wire, the concentric circles
appear larger and larger. At the centre of the circular coil,
the arc appears as a straight line.
The magnetic field is the strongest near the periphery of
the loop.
The magnetic field on the coil depends directly on the
current passing through it. Therefore if the coil has n
turns then the magnetic field is n times larger (the field
due to each turn adds up) than a coil with a single turn.
The direction of the current can be determined using the
Right Hand Thumb Rule which is also called Maxwell’s
corkscrew rule.
• As per this rule, if we imagine driving the corkscrew in
the direction of the current, then the direction of the
magnetic field is the same as the direction of the current.
Magnetic Field Due to Current In
A Solenoid
• Solenoid - solenoid is a coil of many circular turns of
insulated copper wire wrapped together in a cylindrical
shape. When current is passed through the solenoid, it
starts behaving like a bar magnet, where one end
behaves like a north pole and the other end behaves
like a south pole.
• Magnetic field lines are parallel inside the
solenoid, similar to a bar magnet, which shows
that magnetic field is same at all points inside the
solenoid.
Magnetic field produced by a solenoid is similar
to a bar magnet.
The strength of magnetic field is proportional to
the number of turns and magnitude of current.
By producing a strong magnetic field inside the
solenoid, magnetic materials can be magnetized.
Magnet formed by producing magnetic field
inside a solenoid is called electromagnet.
Force on a current carrying
conductor in a magnetic field
• A current carrying conductor exerts a force when a
magnet is placed in its vicinity. Similarly, a magnet also
exerts equal and opposite force on the current carrying
conductor. This was suggested by Marie Ampere, a
French Physicist and considered as founder of science of
electromagnetism.
• When an electric conductor is placed in a
magnetic field, it experiences a force. This force
is directly proportional to the current and is also
perpendicular to its length and magnetic field.
• The direction of force over the conductor gets
reversed with the change in direction of flow of
electric current. It is observed that the
magnitude of force is highest when the direction
of current is at right angles to the magnetic field.
• Fleming’s Left-Hand Rule: If the direction of electric
current is perpendicular to the magnetic field, the
direction of force is also perpendicular to both of them.
The Fleming’s Left Hand Rule states that if the left hand
is stretched in a way that the index finger, the middle
finger and the thumb are in mutually perpendicular
directions, then the index finger and middle finger of a
stretched left hand show the direction of magnetic field
and direction of electric current respectively and the
thumb shows the direction of motion or force acting on
the conductor. The directions of electric current,
magnetic field and force are similar to three mutually
perpendicular axes, i.e. x, y, and z-axes.
Domestic Electric Circuits
How electricity reaches our
home?
• Power generation takes place in power stations and the
power distribution takes place from the power station
through large transmission lines which are supported
by the large towers. These transmission lines aid in
carrying a large amount of power to substations.
Distribution lines carry small amounts of current which
are distributed from the substations to houses.
• The main supply, referred to as mains, receives the
power in the home and is distributed through various
types of cables. When the currents flow through the
cables into the devices or appliances at home, they
function accordingly.
Power distribution to a house
• 3 types of wires are involved in the domestic electric
circuits, they are:
• Earth wire
• Live wire
• Neutral wire
• Earth wire is green in colour. Earth wire is connected to metal
plates placed in the earth near the house for safety purposes.
It provides safety for all the appliances and devices connected
at home which have a metallic body. This is done to prevent
shock when leakage of charges happens in the metallic body.
• Live wire is red in colour. It is a positive conductor that helps
to break the circuit when excess current flows through the
circuit.
• Neutral wire is black in colour. It is a negative conductor.
• Note: The potential difference between live and neutral wire
is 220 volts.
Electric Fuse

• From the main supply, the current is passed through the

circuit called a fuse. An electric fuse is used as a safety
device that protects electric circuits and appliances due to
fluctuation, short-circuiting or overloading of the electric
circuits. Fuse offers high resistance to voltage and has a
low melting point. The fuse helps in breaking the circuit
when overload current, high voltage or fluctuating current
passes through the circuit. When heated, it melts and
breaks the connection with the circuit, helping in
preventing burning of other components/circuits. Hence,
fuse is an integral part of domestic wiring as a safety
device.
• Fuse is connected to an electric meter, an electric meter is
also known as an energy meter. The earth wire from the
meter is connected to ground (earthend) near the house.
This meter records the electricity consumed by the house
in kilowatt hour (kwh). The wires from the electric meter
pass to the distribution box and are distributed to various
devices when connected to the switch.
• Electric circuits used for household purposes are of two
types: 15 Amperes current rating circuit and 5 Amperes
current rating circuit.
• 5 Amperes current rating circuits are used for lower
power consumption sources that have lower power
ratings. It includes television, fans, lights like LED and
bulbs.
• 15 Amperes current rating circuits are used for higher
power consumption sources that have a high power
rating. It includes an air conditioner, geysers and iron
• Overloading - When a number of electrical appliances are
used at the same time, it draws a huge amount of current at
the same time. This causes overloading. Even when a
number of electrical appliances are connected to the same
electrical socket, overloading takes place. Since we can see a
parallel type of connection in residential buildings, when the
total current drawn by all the appliances at the single time
exceeds the bearing capacity of the wire, it heats the wire
and leads to overloading.
• Miniature circuit breakers (MCBs) which are widely used
nowadays. MCBs are switches that turn off automatically
when there is an overload or a short circuit.
• Short-circuit happens when the neutral wire comes in
contact with the live wire. It happens when wires of low
resistance are used or when the insulation of the wire is
damaged and one wire gets in contact with another.
• When the leakage of current takes place, current flows
through the body of the person in contact. To avoid this
type of situation, as a part of safety and precaution,
earthing is done. Earthing is the process of protecting
against unwarranted spikes and bouts of electricity that
can cause damage to life and property.