Magneto motive force

Magneto motive force, also known as magnetic potential, is the property of

certain substances or phenomena that gives rise to magnetic field s. Magneto
motive force is analogous to electromotive force or voltage in electricity.
The standard unit of magneto motive force is the ampere-turn (AT), represented
by a steady, direct electrical current of one ampere (1 A) flowing in a single-turn
loop of electrically conducting material in a vacuum. Sometimes a unit called the
gilbert (G) is used to quantify magneto motive force. The gilbert is defined
differently, and is a slightly smaller unit than the ampere-turn. To convert from
ampere-turns to gilberts, multiply by 1.25664. Conversely, multiply by 0.795773.
Although the standard definition of magneto motive force involves current
passing through an electrical conductor, permanent magnets also exhibit
magneto motive force. The same is true for planets with magnetic fields, such as
the Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The Sun also generates magneto
motive forces, particularly in the vicinity of sunspots.

Permeance

Reluctance
The reluctance of a magnetic circuit is analogous to the resistance of an electric
circuit. Reluctance depends on the geometrical and material properties of the
circuit that offer opposition to the presence of magnetic flux. Reluctance of a
given part of a magnetic circuit is proportional to its length and inversely
proportional to its cross-sectional area and a magnetic property of the given
material called its permeability. Iron, for example, has an extremely high

permeability as compared to air so that it has a comparatively small reluctance,

or it offers relatively little opposition to the presence of magnetic flux. In a series
magnetic circuit, the total reluctance equals the sum of the individual
reluctances encountered around the closed flux path. In a magnetic circuit, in
summary, the magnetic flux is quantitatively equal to the magnetomotive force
divided by the reluctance.

Permeability
Permeability, also called magnetic permeability, is a constant of proportionality
that exists between magnetic induction and magnetic field intensity. This
constant is equal to approximately 1.257 x 10-6 henry per meter (H/m) in free
space (a vacuum). In other materials it can be much different, often substantially
greater than the free-space value, which is symbolized o.
Materials that cause the lines of flux to move farther apart, resulting in a
decrease in magnetic flux density compared with a vacuum, are called
diamagnetic. Materials that concentrate magnetic flux by a factor of more than 1
but less than or equal to 10 are called paramagnetic; materials that concentrate
the flux by a factor of more than 10 are called ferromagnetic. The permeability
factors of some substances change with rising or falling temperature, or with the
intensity of the applied magnetic field.
In engineering applications, permeability is often expressed in relative, rather
than in absolute, terms. If o represents the permeability of free space (that is,
1.257 x 10-6 H/m) and represents the permeability of the substance in
question (also specified in henrys per meter), then the relative permeability, r,
is given by:
r = / o
= (7.958 x 105)
Diamagnetic materials have r less than 1, but no known substance has relative
permeability much less than 1. Certain ferromagnetics, especially powdered or
laminated iron, steel, or nickel alloys, have r that can range up to about
1,000,000. When a paramagnetic or ferromagnetic core is inserted into a coil,
the inductance is multiplied by r compared with the inductance of the same coil
with an air core. This effect is useful in the design of transformers and chokes for
alternating current (AC), audio frequencies (AF), and radio frequencies (RF).

Magnetic field strength

Magnetic field strength is one of two ways that the intensity of a magnetic field
can be expressed. Technically, a distinction is made between magnetic field
strength H, measured in amperes per meter (A/m), and magnetic flux density B,
measured in Newton-meters per ampere (Nm/A), also called teslas (T).
The magnetic field can be visualized as magnetic field lines. The field strength
corresponds to the density of the field lines. The total number of magnetic field
lines penetrating an area is called the magnetic flux. The unit of the magnetic

flux is the tesla meter squared (T m2, also called the weber and symbolized
Wb). The older units for the magnetic flux, the maxwell (equivalent to 10-8 Wb),
and for magnetic flux density, the gauss (equivalent to 10-4 T), are obsolete and
seldom seen today.
Magnetic flux density diminishes with increasing distance from a straight currentcarrying wire or a straight line connecting a pair of magnetic poles around which
the magnetic field is stable. At a given location in the vicinity of a currentcarrying wire, the magnetic flux density is directly proportional to the current in
amperes. If a ferromagnetic object such as a piece of iron is brought into a
magnetic field, the "magnetic force" exerted on that object is directly
proportional to the gradient of the magnetic field strength where the object is
located.