Electromagnetism

NDUJI JERRY

PHYSICS 1302

Electromagnetism

Electromagnetism is defined as “magnetism produced by an electric current”. This simply

means the electrical part of what holds every bit of matter in our universe together. The source of

this universal “glue” is found within atoms themselves.

As the name implies, there are two different forces in electromagnetism – (electro) the electric

force and (magnetism) the magnetic force. Just prior to the early part of the last century, scientist

studied electricity and magnetism as two separate entities in science. No one had discovered or

better yet understood the connection between the two concepts. Electromagnetism was

discovered by accident, the flow of electric current (which is the movement of electrical charge)

creates a magnetic force” in reference to the words of Jack R. White, the author of The Hidden

World of Forces. I will begin by explaining the magnetic force in electromagnetism. About 1000

years ago, the Chinese accidentally discovered nature’s permanent magnet - lodestone formally

known as magnetite. After nonchalantly playing around with this rock they began to notice that

when this lodestone was floating on a piece of wood it would always rearrange itself to

point north. From this slight discovery they then created a magnetic compass which they used for

travelling