What exactly is magnetic field?
In: Physics
Certain things— bar magnets, electric currents— cause magnetic forces, which apply to moving electrically-charged objects. This is similar to how certain things (though in this case it’s basically all things) cause gravitational forces, which apply to massive objects (that is, objects with mass, not necessarily huge objects).
A magnetic field is the, I guess you’d call it a map of how strong those magnetic forces are, and in what direction they pull. (There’s a mathematical complication, because the direction we use to describe the magnetic field isn’t the same direction magnetism accelerates affected objects, but that’s under-the-hood stuff that you don’t need to worry about in an ELI5.)
The way I like to think of it is that magnetism and magnetic attraction exists in **the** magnetic field, which is everywhere in our universe. The field is like the surface of a calm ocean, the water is completely flat. What things with magnetism, or magnets, do, is create waves in that calm surface, which can move around things that are sitting on that surface, like anything else that can be magnetic.
A field is just math-talk for a region in space. So literally, the space that is affected by magnets. This space happens to be everywhere. The magnets affect the space, and the space in turn can act on magnetic objects, allowing for that spooky action-at-a-distance you see when magnets are pushing on each other without touching.
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