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magnetic field: Quick Facts

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Photos and Videos

magnets and their associated magnetic field lines
Diagram showing a small copper sample suspended between the north and south poles of an electromagnet, with magnetic field lines concentrated around the sample in an inhomogeneous magnetic field.
Diagram showing magnetic field lines around a small horizontal current loop at the center, with arrows indicating the field direction created by a clockwise current when viewed from above.
Diagram showing a circular loop of wire with an electric current, surrounded by curved blue lines representing magnetic field lines that loop around the wire and pass through its center.
Diagram showing the magnetic field lines around two parallel current loops with currents flowing in opposite directions. The field lines form closed loops, curving outward from each loop and meeting between them, illustrating the opposing magnetic fields.
Diagram showing two parallel current loops with currents flowing in the same direction, surrounded by blue magnetic field lines that form closed loops and connect the two coils, illustrating the combined magnetic field pattern.
Diagram of an electromagnetic wave showing two perpendicular oscillating fields: electric field (E) and magnetic field (B), both at right angles to the direction of wave propagation (c). Wavelength is marked as lambda.
Two diagrams show the magnetic field around a long straight wire carrying current. Panel A presents an end view with concentric circular field lines around the wire, current flowing toward the viewer. Panel B shows a three-dimensional view with the wire angled across the image and circular magnetic field lines surrounding it.
magnetic field lines around wire
Diagram showing a segment of wire carrying electric current, with labeled axes and arrows indicating the direction and magnitude of the magnetic field at various points around the wire. The wire runs horizontally, and magnetic field vectors are shown at numbered positions, illustrating how the field varies with distance and orientation.
How do magnetic forces and poles work?
Discover how wireless electricity works and its usages
Understand the principles of diamagnetism
Discover how some elements escape the Earth's atmosphere and how some charged particles are stopped by the Earth's magnetic field
Study the phenomena of ferromagnetism, antiferromagnetism, and paramagnetism and also how temperature affects magnetic properties
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Key People

Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla
Serbian American inventor and engineer
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George Ellery Hale
American astronomer
Thouless, David
David Thouless
British-born American physicist
Haldane, Duncan
Duncan Haldane
British-born American physicist
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Hans Christian Ørsted
Danish physicist and chemist
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Horace Welcome Babcock
American astronomer
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Harold Delos Babcock
American astronomer