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.)
Latest Answers