Electricity vs Magnetism
Electricity and magnetism are two very important topics discussed under physics. The concepts of electricity and magnetism are vital in many fields apart from physics, as well. Electricity is the force of the nature that is responsible for electric currents and electric fields. Magnetism is the force of the nature that is responsible for magnetic forces and magnetic fields. In this article, we are going to discuss what electricity and magnetism are, the definitions of electricity and magnetism, the relationship between electricity and magnetism, and finally the difference between electricity and magnetism.
Electricity
Electricity is a fundamental force in the nature when it is combined with magnetism. Electricity can be defined as the phenomenon that occurs due to electric charges. This is rather an intuitive idea and cannot be defined properly. Electric forces are the forces that occur due to electric charges. There are two types of electric charges. They are positive and negative. An electric charge is described by the electric field associated with it. The electric field and the electric charge are like the “chicken and egg” problem. One is required to describe the other. An electric field is said to be produced by all electric charges whether they are moving or stationary. An electric field can also be produced using any time varying magnetic fields.
There are several important factors of electric fields. These are electric field intensity, electric field potential and electric flux density. The electric potential by a point charge is given by V = Q/4πεr. The electric force on a point charge of charge q placed inside an electric field is given by F = V q where V is the potential at that point. Electric forces can be either attractive or repulsive. If two charges are of the same type (negative or positive), the forces are repulsive, if they are of different types the forces are attractive.
Magnetism
Magnetism is a phenomenon that is created by moving electric charges. The magnetism also has a duality. The magnetic poles created by moving electric charges are termed as north poles and south poles. Magnetic poles always occur in pairs. There are no magnetic monopoles. Magnetism, along with electricity created electromagnetism which is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. Magnetic dipoles create magnetic fields. Similar magnetic poles oppose each other whereas dissimilar magnetic poles attract each other.
What is the difference between Electricity and Magnetism?
• Electricity can be present in either static charges (static electricity) or moving charges (current electricity) whereas magnetism is only present when there are moving charges.
• Electric charges can occur in monopoles. The negative and the positive charge don’t need to occur in pairs. Magnetic monopoles cannot exist; magnetic poles are always produced in opposite pairs.