# Lenz's law

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Lenz's law, named after the physicist Emil Lenz (pronounced ) who formulated it in 1834, [1] says that the direction of the electric current induced in a conductor by a changing magnetic field, is such that the magnetic field created by the induced current opposes changes in the initial magnetic field.

## Contents

It is a qualitative law that specifies the direction of induced current, but states nothing about its magnitude. Lenz's law predicts the direction of many effects in electromagnetism, such as the direction of voltage induced in an inductor or wire loop by a changing current, or the drag force of eddy currents exerted on moving objects in a magnetic field.

Lenz's law may be seen as analogous to Newton's third law in classical mechanics. [2] [3]

## Definition

Lenz's law states that the current induced in a circuit due to a change in a magnetic field is directed to oppose the change in flux and to exert a mechanical force which opposes the motion.

Lenz's law is contained in the rigorous treatment of Faraday's law of induction (the magnitude of EMF induced in a coil is proportional to the rate of change of the magnetic field), [4] where it finds expression by the negative sign:

${\displaystyle {\mathcal {E}}=-{\frac {\partial \Phi _{\mathbf {B} }}{\partial t}},}$

which indicates that the induced electromotive force ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {E}}}$ and the rate of change in magnetic flux ${\displaystyle \Phi _{\mathbf {B} }}$ have opposite signs. [5]

This means that the direction of the back EMF of an induced field opposes the changing current that is its cause. D.J. Griffiths summarized it as follows: Nature abhors a change in flux. [6]

If a change in the magnetic field of current i1 induces another electric current, i2, the direction of i2 is opposite that of the change in i1. If these currents are in two coaxial circular conductors 1 and 2 respectively, and both are initially 0, then the currents i1 and i2 must counter-rotate. The opposing currents will repel each other as a result.

### Example

Magnetic fields from strong magnets can create counter-rotating currents in a copper or aluminium pipe. This is shown by dropping the magnet through the pipe. The descent of the magnet inside the pipe is observably slower than when dropped outside the pipe.

When a voltage is generated by a change in magnetic flux according to Faraday's law, the polarity of the induced voltage is such that it produces a current whose magnetic field opposes the change which produces it. The induced magnetic field inside any loop of wire always acts to keep the magnetic flux in the loop constant. The direction of an induced current can be determined using the right-hand rule to show which direction of current flow would create a magnetic field that would oppose the direction of changing flux through the loop. [7] In the examples below, if the flux is increasing, the induced field acts in opposition to it. If it is decreasing, the induced field acts in the direction of the applied field to oppose the change.

## Detailed interaction of charges in these currents

In electromagnetism, when charges move along electric field lines work is done on them, whether it involves storing potential energy (negative work) or increasing kinetic energy (positive work).

When net positive work is applied to a charge q1, it gains speed and momentum. The net work on q1 thereby generates a magnetic field whose strength (in units of magnetic flux density (1 tesla = 1 volt-second per square meter)) is proportional to the speed increase of q1. This magnetic field can interact with a neighboring charge q2, passing on this momentum to it, and in return, q1 loses momentum.

The charge q2 can also act on q1 in a similar manner, by which it returns some of the momentum that it received from q1. This back-and-forth component of momentum contributes to magnetic inductance. The closer that q1 and q2 are, the greater the effect. When q2 is inside a conductive medium such as a thick slab made of copper or aluminum, it more readily responds to the force applied to it by q1. The energy of q1 is not instantly consumed as heat generated by the current of q2 but is also stored in two opposing magnetic fields. The energy density of magnetic fields tends to vary with the square of the magnetic field's intensity; however, in the case of magnetically non-linear materials such as ferromagnets and superconductors, this relationship breaks down.

## Conservation of momentum

Momentum must be conserved in the process, so if q1 is pushed in one direction, then q2 ought to be pushed in the other direction by the same force at the same time. However, the situation becomes more complicated when the finite speed of electromagnetic wave propagation is introduced (see retarded potential). This means that for a brief period the total momentum of the two charges is not conserved, implying that the difference should be accounted for by momentum in the fields, as asserted by Richard P. Feynman. [8] Famous 19th century electrodynamicist James Clerk Maxwell called this the "electromagnetic momentum". [9] Yet, such a treatment of fields may be necessary when Lenz's law is applied to opposite charges. It is normally assumed that the charges in question have the same sign. If they do not, such as a proton and an electron, the interaction is different. An electron generating a magnetic field would generate an EMF that causes a proton to accelerate in the same direction as the electron. At first, this might seem to violate the law of conservation of momentum, but such an interaction is seen to conserve momentum if the momentum of electromagnetic fields is taken into account.

## Related Research Articles

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An inductor, also called a coil, choke, or reactor, is a passive two-terminal electrical component that stores energy in a magnetic field when electric current flows through it. An inductor typically consists of an insulated wire wound into a coil.

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In electrical engineering, two conductors are said to be inductively coupled or magnetically coupled when they are configured in a way such that change in current through one wire induces a voltage across the ends of the other wire through electromagnetic induction. A changing current through the first wire creates a changing magnetic field around it by Ampere's circuital law. The changing magnetic field induces an electromotive force in the second wire by Faraday's law of induction. The amount of inductive coupling between two conductors is measured by their mutual inductance.

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Electromagnetic or magnetic induction is the production of an electromotive force across an electrical conductor in a changing magnetic field.

In electromagnetism and electronics, electromotive force is the electrical action produced by a non-electrical source. Devices provide an emf by converting other forms of energy into electrical energy, such as batteries or generators. Sometimes an analogy to water pressure is used to describe electromotive force..

Inductance is the tendency of an electrical conductor to oppose a change in the electric current flowing through it. The flow of electric current creates a magnetic field around the conductor. The field strength depends on the magnitude of the current, and follows any changes in current. From Faraday's law of induction, any change in magnetic field through a circuit induces an electromotive force (EMF) (voltage) in the conductors, a process known as electromagnetic induction. This induced voltage created by the changing current has the effect of opposing the change in current. This is stated by Lenz's law, and the voltage is called back EMF.

Eddy currents are loops of electrical current induced within conductors by a changing magnetic field in the conductor according to Faraday's law of induction. Eddy currents flow in closed loops within conductors, in planes perpendicular to the magnetic field. They can be induced within nearby stationary conductors by a time-varying magnetic field created by an AC electromagnet or transformer, for example, or by relative motion between a magnet and a nearby conductor. The magnitude of the current in a given loop is proportional to the strength of the magnetic field, the area of the loop, and the rate of change of flux, and inversely proportional to the resistivity of the material. When graphed, these circular currents within a piece of metal look vaguely like eddies or whirlpools in a liquid.

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Faraday's law of induction is a basic law of electromagnetism predicting how a magnetic field will interact with an electric circuit to produce an electromotive force (EMF)—a phenomenon known as electromagnetic induction. It is the fundamental operating principle of transformers, inductors, and many types of electrical motors, generators and solenoids.

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An eddy current brake, also known as an induction brake, electric brake or electric retarder, is a device used to slow or stop a moving object by dissipating its kinetic energy as heat. Unlike friction brakes, where the drag force that stops the moving object is provided by friction between two surfaces pressed together, the drag force in an eddy current brake is an electromagnetic force between a magnet and a nearby conductive object in relative motion, due to eddy currents induced in the conductor through electromagnetic induction.

Counter-electromotive force, also known as back electromotive force, is the electromotive force (voltage) that opposes the change in current which induced it. CEMF is the EMF caused by magnetic induction.

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Electromagnetism is one of the fundamental forces of nature. Early on, electricity and magnetism were studied separately and regarded as separate phenomena. Hans Christian Ørsted discovered that the two were related – electric currents give rise to magnetism. Michael Faraday discovered the converse, that magnetism could induce electric currents, and James Clerk Maxwell put the whole thing together in a unified theory of electromagnetism. Maxwell's equations further indicated that electromagnetic waves existed, and the experiments of Heinrich Hertz confirmed this, making radio possible. Maxwell also postulated, correctly, that light was a form of electromagnetic wave, thus making all of optics a branch of electromagnetism. Radio waves differ from light only in that the wavelength of the former is much longer than the latter. Albert Einstein showed that the magnetic field arises through the relativistic motion of the electric field and thus magnetism is merely a side effect of electricity. The modern theoretical treatment of electromagnetism is as a quantum field in quantum electrodynamics.

## References

1. Lenz, E. (1834), "Ueber die Bestimmung der Richtung der durch elektodynamische Vertheilung erregten galvanischen Ströme", Annalen der Physik und Chemie, 107 (31), pp. 483–494. A partial translation of the paper is available in Magie, W. M. (1963), A Source Book in Physics, Harvard: Cambridge MA, pp. 511–513.
2. Schmitt, Ron. Electromagnetics explained. 2002. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
3. Waygood, Adrian (2013). An Introduction to Electrical Science. Taylor & Francis.
4. "Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction" . Retrieved 2021-02-27.
5. Giancoli, Douglas C. (1998). (5th ed.). pp.  624.
6. Griffiths, David (2013). Introduction to Electrodynamics. p. 315. ISBN   978-0-321-85656-2.
7. "Faraday's law and Lenz's law". buphy.bu.edu. Retrieved 2021-01-15.
8. The Feynman Lectures on Physics : Volume I, Chapter 10, page 9.
9. Maxwell, James C. A treatise on electricity and magnetism, Volume 2. Retrieved 16 July 2010.