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NOTES ON
MAGNET AND MAGNETISM
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PREPARED BY: VIVEK MISRA
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A BAR MAGNET IS THE MAGNETIC DIPOLE, WHICH SHOWS ABILITY TO
ATTRACT MAGNETIC SUBSTANCES SUCH AS IRON
NICKEL AND COBALT.
1. PROPERTIES OF BAR MAGNET:
1. It attracts magnetic substances like iron, nickel and cobalt.
2. When magnet is place in a heap of iron fillings, they cling to
the magnet. The attraction appears to be the maximum at the Figure1
ends of the magnet. These ends are called poles of the magnet. See figure 1
3. When magnet is suspended freely in air with the help of an unspun thread, it always
align itself in geographical north and south.
4. Like pole of bar magnet repel each other while unlike poles attract each other.

5. The force of attraction or repulsion between two pole is directly proportional to their
pole strengths m1 and m2 and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between
two poles.
F α m1 m2 and F α 1/r2
→ F = μo/ 4π m1 m2/ r2
2. MAGNETIC LINES OF FORCES: These lines physically signify the region of
magnetic field around a bar magnet Or magnetic dipole.
OR
It can also be defined as a geometrical path along which a
hypothetical isolated north pole a magnet would move.
Properties of magnetic lines of force:
1. Magnetic lines of force are closed continuous curves.
2. Outside the magnet they move from north to south –pole
while inside the magnet these lines move from south to north- pole. See figure 2
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3. The tangent drawn at any point of magnetic lines of force gives the direction of
resultant magnetic field at that point.
4. The larger no. of magnetic lines of force crossing per unit area represents stronger
magnetic field and vice-versa.
5. Magnetic lines of force contract longitudinally due to attraction between unlike pole
and they dilate due to repulsion b/n like poles.
6. Two magnetic lines of force never intersect each other.
Why can’t two magnetic lines of force intersect?
Assuming two magnetic lines of force intersect at point P. We can draw two tangents T
and T’ at point of intersection of two lines. This would give two directions of resultant
magnetic field, which is impossible. Thus two magnetic lines of force can never intersect
each other.

Figure 3: Intersection of two magnetic lines of force

Magnetic dipole moment (M) : It measures the strength of a magnetic dipole.

It is a vector quantity and the direction of magnetic dipole moment is from S-pole to N-
pole.For a given bar magnet of length “2l” and pole strength “m” is given by formula:
M = m x 2l ---------------------------------------(1)
Since a current carrying coil also behaves as dipole, therefore a circular coil of radius ‘r’
having ‘N’ no. of turns and carrying current ‘I’ will have dipole moment:
M = N I A ----------------------------------------(2)
The unit of magnetic dipole moment in S.I. System is A-m2.
3.GAUSS’S LAW IN MAGNETISM:
It states that the total magnetic flux linked with the closed surface
OR
Surface integral of magnetic field over a closed surface is equal to zero.

From this law, we conclude that monopole does not exist in case of a magnet i.e. why
total pole strength inside the closed surface is zero.
M = m1 + m2
=m–m =0
4. Some important terms in magnetism:
1. Magnetic permeability (µ): It is an ability of a material to permit the passage of
magnetic lines of force through it.
2. Relative permeability (µr): It is defined as the ratio of magnetic permeability of the
substance to magnetic permeability of air or vacuum. µr = µm / µ0
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3. Intensity of magnetisation ( I ): It represents the extent to which magnetic material is

magnetised, when placed in external magnetic field.
4. Magnetic susceptibility ( χ ): This the property of material which determines how
easily a specimen can be magnetised. Numerically it is defined as the ratio of intensity of
magnetisation to the strength of magnetizing field (H).
χ =I/H
The relative permeability is related with magnetic susceptibility as µr = 1 + χ
5. Classification of Magnetic Materials:
The origin of magnetism lies in the orbital and spin motions of electrons and how the
electrons interact with one another. The best way to introduce the different types of
magnetism is to describe how materials respond to magnetic fields. This may be
surprising to some, but all matter is magnetic. It's just that some materials are much more
magnetic than others. The main distinction is that in some materials there is no collective
interaction of atomic magnetic moments, whereas in other materials there is a very strong
interaction between atomic moments.
The magnetic behavior of materials can be classified into the following five major
groups:
1. Diamagnetic material
2. Paramagnetic materials
3. Ferromagnetic materials
1. Diamagnetic materials: In a diamagnetic material the atoms have no net magnetic
moment when there is no applied field. Under the influence of an applied field (H) the
spinning electrons process and this motion, which is a type of electric current, produces a
magnetisation (M) in the opposite direction to that of the applied field.
Diamagnetic substances are composed of atoms which have no net magnetic moments
(ie., all the orbital shells are filled and there are no unpaired electrons
Eg: Bi, Sb , Cu, Pb, Air, Water and alcohol
Properties: 1. When suspended in a uniform magnetic field, they set their longest axis at
right angle to the direction of applied magnetic field.
2. When placed in non-uniform magnetic field, they have tendency to move from
stronger part of the field to the weaker part.
3. When the specimen of diamagnetic substance is placed in external magnetic field, the
magnetic field lines do not prefer to pass through the specimen.
5. The relative permeability of diamagnetic material is always less than the unity.
6. The Susceptibility of diamagnetic material has a small negative value.
7. The Susceptibility of diamagnetic material does not depend on temperature.
2. Paramagnetic materials:
This class of materials, some of the atoms or ions in the material have a net magnetic
moment due to unpaired electrons in partially filled orbitals. However, the individual
magnetic moments do not interact magnetically, and like diamagnetism, the
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magnetization is zero when the field is removed. In the presence of a field, there is now a
partial alignment of the atomic magnetic moments in the direction of the field, resulting
in a net positive magnetization and positive susceptibility.
Eg: Al, Na, Ca, Pt and oxygen (O2)
Properties: 1. When suspended in a uniform magnetic field, they set their longest axis at
along to the direction of applied magnetic field.
2. When placed in non-uniform magnetic field, they have tendency to move from weaker
part of the field to the stronger part.
3. When the specimen of diamagnetic substance is placed in external magnetic field, the
magnetic field lines prefer to pass through the specimen.
5. The relative permeability of diamagnetic material is always more than the unity.
6. The Susceptibility of diamagnetic material has a small positive value.
7. The Susceptibility of diamagnetic material depends on temperature.
3. Ferromagnetic materials: When you think of magnetic materials, you probably think of
iron, nickel or magnetite. Unlike paramagnetic materials, the atomic moments in these
materials exhibit very strong interactions with the applied external magnetic field. These
interactions are produced by electronic exchange forces and result in a parallel or anti-
parallel alignment of atomic moments. The exchange force is a quantum mechanical
phenomenon due to the relative orientation of the spins of two electron.
Eg: Iron, Nickel, Cobalt, Gadolinium and number of alloys
Properties: 1. Ferromagnetic materials exhibit parallel alignment of moments resulting
in large net magnetization even in the absence of a magnetic field.

2. When placed in non-uniform magnetic field, they have strong tendency to move from
weaker part of the field to the stronger part.
3. When the specimen of diamagnetic substance is placed in external magnetic field, the
magnetic field lines prefer to concentrate in the specimen.
5. The relative permeability of diamagnetic material is very large of order 103 to 105.
6. The Susceptibility of diamagnetic material has a very large positive value.
7. The Susceptibility of diamagnetic material depends on temperature.
6. Weiss’ domain theory of ferromagnetism: Each atom in ferromagnetic substance
behaves like magnetic dipole with permanent magnetic dipole moment. According to
Weiss’s theory the ferromagnetic substances can be assumed to be made of domains. A
domain is collection of large no. of tiny dipoles having same direction of magnetic dipole
moment. Each domain has linear dimension nearly 1000 A0 and contains 1010 atoms.
(1) In absence of applied external magnetic field, the domains are randomly oriented in
side the sample. As a result the net magnetic dipole moment is zero and the sample does
not show magnetic behavior.
(2) When external magnetic field is applied across it, with the increase in strength of
applied magnetic field, domains start aligning in the direction of field and hence the
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ferromagnetic sample acquires magnetic behavior. The sample retains this behavior even
after removal of applied magnetic field.

Random orientation in absence Alignment of domains in presence of of

of external field external field
10. Curie’s Law:
According to this law the magnetic susceptibility of paramagnetic and ferromagnetic
materials varies reciprocal to the absolute temperature of substance (T).
` χ α 1/T
i.e. I = C. B / T