Faradays law of induction

For applications and consequences of the law, see 1831[7] ), he wrapped two wires around opposite sides of
Electromagnetic induction.
an iron ring (torus) (an arrangement similar to a modern toroidal transformer). Based on his assessment of
Faradays law of induction is a basic law of recently discovered properties of electromagnets, he expected that when current started to ow in one wire, a
electromagnetism predicting how a magnetic eld
will interact with an electric circuit to produce an sort of wave would travel through the ring and cause some
electrical eect on the opposite side. He plugged one wire
electromotive force (EMF)a phenomenon called
electromagnetic induction. It is the fundamental operat- into a galvanometer, and watched it as he connected the
ing principle of transformers, inductors, and many types other wire to a battery. Indeed, he saw a transient current (which he called a wave of electricity) when he
of electrical motors, generators and solenoids.[1][2]
connected the wire to the battery, and another when he
The MaxwellFaraday equation is a generalization of disconnected it.[8] This induction was due to the change
Faradays law, and is listed as one of Maxwells equations. in magnetic ux that occurred when the battery was connected and disconnected.[3] Within two months, Faraday
had found several other manifestations of electromagnetic induction. For example, he saw transient currents
1 History
when he quickly slid a bar magnet in and out of a coil of
wires, and he generated a steady (DC) current by rotating
a copper disk near the bar magnet with a sliding electrical
lead (Faradays disk).[9]
+

Michael Faraday explained electromagnetic induction using a concept he called lines of force. However, scientists
at the time widely rejected his theoretical ideas, mainly
because they were not formulated mathematically.[10] An
exception was James Clerk Maxwell, who used Faradays ideas as the basis of his quantitative electromagnetic
theory.[10][11][12] In Maxwells papers, the time-varying
aspect of electromagnetic induction is expressed as a differential equation which Oliver Heaviside referred to as
Faradays law even though it is dierent from the original
version of Faradays law, and does not describe motional
EMF. Heavisides version (see MaxwellFaraday equation below) is the form recognized today in the group of
equations known as Maxwells equations.

A diagram of Faradays iron ring apparatus. Change in the magnetic ux of the left coil induces a current in the right coil.[3]

Lenzs law, formulated by Heinrich Lenz in 1834, describes ux through the circuit, and gives the direction
of the induced EMF and current resulting from electromagnetic induction (elaborated upon in the examples below).

2 Faradays law
Faradays disk (see homopolar generator)

2.1 Qualitative statement

Electromagnetic induction was discovered independently

by Michael Faraday in 1831 and Joseph Henry in The most widespread version of Faradays law states:
1832.[4] Faraday was the rst to publish the results
The induced electromotive force in any
of his experiments.[5][6] In Faradays rst experimental
demonstration of electromagnetic induction (August 29,
closed circuit is equal to the negative of the
1

2 FARADAYS LAW

B(r, t) dA ,

B =
(t)

where dA is an element of surface area of the moving surface (t), B is the magnetic eld (also called magnetic
ux density), and BdA is a vector dot product (the innitesimal amount of magnetic ux through the innitesimal area element dA). In more visual terms, the magnetic
ux through the wire loop is proportional to the number
of magnetic ux lines that pass through the loop.
When the ux changesbecause B changes, or because
the wire loop is moved or deformed, or bothFaradays
Faradays experiment showing induction between coils of wire:
law of induction says that the wire loop acquires an EMF,
The liquid battery (right) provides a current which ows through
unit charge
the small coil (A), creating a magnetic eld. When the coils E , dened as the energy available from a[16][17][18][19]
that
has
travelled
once
around
the
wire
loop.
are stationary, no current is induced. But when the small coil
is moved in or out of the large coil (B), the magnetic ux through Equivalently, it is the voltage that would be measured by
the large coil changes, inducing a current which is detected by the cutting the wire to create an open circuit, and attaching a
voltmeter to the leads.
galvanometer (G).[13]
time rate of change of the magnetic ux enclosed by the circuit.[14][15]
This version of Faradays law strictly holds only when the
closed circuit is a loop of innitely thin wire,[16] and is
invalid in other circumstances as discussed below. A different version, the MaxwellFaraday equation (discussed
below), is valid in all circumstances.

2.2

Quantitative

Faradays law states that the EMF is also given by the rate
of change of the magnetic ux:

E =

dB
,
dt

where E is the electromotive force (EMF) and B is the

magnetic ux. The direction of the electromotive force is
given by Lenzs law.
For a tightly wound coil of wire, composed of N identical
turns, each with the same B, Faradays law of induction
states that[20][21]

E = N

dB
dt

where N is the number of turns of wire and B is the

magnetic ux through a single loop.

2.3 MaxwellFaraday equation

The denition of surface integral relies on splitting the surface

into small surface elements. Each element is associated with
a vector dA of magnitude equal to the area of the element and
with direction normal to the element and pointing outward (with
respect to the orientation of the surface).

The MaxwellFaraday equation is a generalisation of

Faradays law that states that a time-varying magnetic
eld will always accompany a spatially-varying, nonconservative electric eld, and vice versa. The Maxwell
Faraday equation is

(in SI units) where is the curl operator and again E(r,

Faradays law of induction makes use of the magnetic ux t) is the electric eld and B(r, t) is the magnetic eld.
B through a hypothetical surface whose boundary is a These elds can generally be functions of position r and
wire loop. Since the wire loop may be moving, we write time t.
(t) for the surface. The magnetic ux is dened by a The MaxwellFaraday equation is one of the four
surface integral:
Maxwells equations, and therefore plays a fundamental

If the path is not changing in time, the equation can be

rewritten:

I
E d =

d
dt

B dA.

The surface integral at the right-hand side is the explicit

expression for the magnetic ux B through .

3 Proof of Faradays law

The four Maxwells equations (including the Maxwell

Faraday equation), along with the Lorentz force law, are a
sucient foundation to derive everything in classical electromagnetism.[16][17] Therefore, it is possible to prove
Faradays law starting with these equations.[23][24] Click
An illustration of KelvinStokes theorem with surface its show in the box below for an outline of this proof. (In
boundary and orientation n set by the right-hand rule.
an alternative approach, not shown here but equally valid,
Faradays law could be taken as the starting point and used
role in the theory of classical electromagnetism. It can to prove the MaxwellFaraday equation and/or other
also be written in an integral form by the KelvinStokes laws.)
theorem:[22]

where, as indicated in the gure:

is a surface bounded by the closed contour
,
E is the electric eld, B is the magnetic eld.
d is an innitesimal vector element of the contour ,
dA is an innitesimal vector element of surface
. If its direction is orthogonal to that surface
patch, the magnitude is the area of an innitesimal patch of surface.
Both d and dA have a sign ambiguity; to get the correct
sign, the right-hand rule is used, as explained in the article
KelvinStokes theorem. For a planar surface , a positive
path element d of curve is dened by the right-hand
rule as one that points with the ngers of the right hand
when the thumb points in the direction of the normal n to
the surface .
The integral around is called a path integral or line
integral.

4 Counterexamples to Faradays
law
Faradays disc electric generator. The disc rotates
with angular rate , sweeping the conducting radius
circularly in the static magnetic eld B. The magnetic Lorentz force v B drives the current along the
conducting radius to the conducting rim, and from
there the circuit completes through the lower brush
and the axle supporting the disc. This device generates an EMF and a current, although the shape of
the circuit is constant and thus the ux through the
circuit does not change with time.
A counterexample to Faradays law when overbroadly interpreted. A wire (solid red lines) connects to two touching metal plates (silver) to form a
circuit. The whole system sits in a uniform magnetic
eld, normal to the page. If the word circuit is interpreted as primary path of current ow (marked
in red), then the magnetic ux through the circuit
changes dramatically as the plates are rotated, yet
the EMF is almost zero, which contradicts Faradays
law. After Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol. II page
17-3.

Notice that a nonzero path integral for E is dierent from

the behavior of the electric eld generated by charges. A
charge-generated E-eld can be expressed as the gradient
of a scalar eld that is a solution to Poissons equation, and
has a zero path integral. See gradient theorem.
Although Faradays law is always true for loops of thin
The integral equation is true for any path through wire, it can give the wrong result if naively extrapolated
space, and any surface for which that path is a bound- to other contexts.[16] One example is the homopolar generator (above left): A spinning circular metal disc in a
ary.

FARADAYS LAW AND RELATIVITY

homogeneous magnetic eld generates a DC (constant in induction is made in some modern textbooks.[27] As
time) EMF. In Faradays law, EMF is the time-derivative Richard Feynman states:[16]
of ux, so a DC EMF is only possible if the magnetic ux
is getting uniformly larger and larger perpetually. But in
So the ux rule that the emf in a circuit
the generator, the magnetic eld is constant and the disc
is equal to the rate of change of the magnetic
stays in the same position, so no magnetic uxes are growux through the circuit applies whether the ux
ing larger and larger. So this example cannot be analyzed
changes because the eld changes or because
directly with Faradays law.
the circuit moves (or both) ...
Yet in our explanation of the rule we have
Another example, due to Feynman,[16] has a dramatic
used two completely distinct laws for the two
change in ux through a circuit, even though the EMF
cases vB for circuit moves and E=t B
is arbitrarily small. See gure and caption above right.
for eld changes.
In both these examples, the changes in the current path
We know of no other place in physics
are dierent from the motion of the material making
where such a simple and accurate general prinup the circuit. The electrons in a material tend to folciple requires for its real understanding an anallow the motion of the atoms that make up the material,
ysis in terms of two dierent phenomena.
due to scattering in the bulk and work function conne Richard P. Feynman, The Feynman
ment at the edges. Therefore, motional EMF is generated
Lectures on Physics
when a materials atoms are moving through a magnetic
eld, dragging the electrons with them, thus subjecting
the electrons to the Lorentz force. In the homopolar generator, the materials atoms are moving, even though the 5.2 Einsteins view
overall geometry of the circuit is staying the same. In
the second example, the materials atoms are almost sta- Reection on this apparent dichotomy was one of the
tionary, even though the overall geometry of the circuit is principal paths that led Einstein to develop special relchanging dramatically. On the other hand, Faradays law ativity:
always holds for thin wires, because there the geometry
of the circuit always changes in a direct relationship to
It
is
known
that
Maxwells
the motion of the materials atoms.
electrodynamicsas usually understood
Although Faradays law does not apply to all situations,
at the present timewhen applied to moving
the MaxwellFaraday equation and Lorentz force law are
bodies, leads to asymmetries which do not
always correct and can always be used directly.[16]
appear to be inherent in the phenomena. Take,
for example, the reciprocal electrodynamic
Both of the above examples can be correctly worked by
action of a magnet and a conductor.
choosing the appropriate path of integration for Faradays
The observable phenomenon here depends
law. Outside of context of thin wires, the path must never
only
on the relative motion of the conductor
be chosen to go through the conductor in the shortest diand
the
magnet, whereas the customary view
rect path. This is explained in detail in The Electromagdraws
a
sharp
distinction between the two cases
netodynamics of Fluid by W. F. Hughes and F. J. Young,
in
which
either
the one or the other of these
John Wiley Inc. (1965).
bodies is in motion. For if the magnet is in
motion and the conductor at rest, there arises
in the neighbourhood of the magnet an electric
5 Faradays law and relativity
eld with a certain denite energy, producing
a current at the places where parts of the conductor are situated.
5.1 Two phenomena
But if the magnet is stationary and the conductor
in motion, no electric eld arises in the
Some physicists have remarked that Faradays law is a
neighbourhood
of the magnet. In the conducsingle equation describing two dierent phenomena: the
tor,
however,
we
nd an electromotive force,
motional EMF generated by a magnetic force on a moving
to
which
in
itself
there
is no corresponding enwire (see Lorentz force), and the transformer EMF generergy,
but
which
gives
riseassuming
equality
ated by an electric force due to a changing magnetic eld
of
relative
motion
in
the
two
cases
discussed
(due to the MaxwellFaraday equation).
to electric currents of the same path and intenJames Clerk Maxwell drew attention to this fact in his
sity as those produced by the electric forces in
1861 paper On Physical Lines of Force.[26] In the latter
the former case.
half of Part II of that paper, Maxwell gives a separate
Examples of this sort, together with unsucphysical explanation for each of the two phenomena.
cessful attempts to discover any motion of the
A reference to these two aspects of electromagnetic
earth relative to the light medium, suggest

5
that the phenomena of electrodynamics as well
as of mechanics possess no properties corresponding to the idea of absolute rest.
Albert Einstein, On the Electrodynamics
of Moving Bodies[28]

See also
Eddy current
Inductance
Maxwells equations
Moving magnet and conductor problem
Alternator
Crosstalk
Faraday paradox
Vector calculus

References

[1] Sadiku, M. N. O. (2007). Elements of Electromagnetics

(fourth ed.). New York (USA)/Oxford (UK): Oxford University Press. p. 386. ISBN 0-19-530048-3.

[13] Poyser, Arthur William (1892), Magnetism and electricity:

A manual for students in advanced classes. London and
New York; Longmans, Green, & Co., p. 285, g. 248.
Retrieved 2009-08-06.
[14] Faradays Law, which states that the electromotive force
around a closed path is equal to the negative of the
time rate of change of magnetic ux enclosed by the
path"Jordan, Edward; Balmain, Keith G. (1968). Electromagnetic Waves and Radiating Systems (2nd ed.).
Prentice-Hall. p. 100.
[15] The magnetic ux is that ux which passes through
any and every surface whose perimeter is the closed
path"Hayt, William (1989). Engineering Electromagnetics
(5th ed.). McGraw-Hill. p. 312. ISBN 0-07-027406-1.
[16] The ux rule is the terminology that Feynman uses to
refer to the law relating magnetic ux to EMF.Richard
Phillips Feynman, Leighton R B & Sands M L (2006).
The Feynman Lectures on Physics. San Francisco:
Pearson/Addison-Wesley. Vol. II, p. 17-2. ISBN 0-80539049-9.
[17] Griths, David J. (1999). Introduction to Electrodynamics
(Third ed.). Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice Hall. pp.
301303. ISBN 0-13-805326-X.
[18] Tipler and Mosca, Physics for Scientists and Engineers,
p795, google books link
[19] Note that dierent textbooks may give dierent denitions. The set of equations used throughout the text was
chosen to be compatible with the special relativity theory.

[2] Applications of electromagnetic induction. Boston University. 1999-07-22.

[20] Essential Principles of Physics, P.M. Whelan, M.J.

Hodgeson, 2nd Edition, 1978, John Murray, ISBN 07195-3382-1

[3] Giancoli, Douglas C. (1998). Physics: Principles with Applications (Fifth ed.). pp. 623624.

[21] Nave, Carl R. Faradays Law. HyperPhysics. Georgia

State University. Retrieved 29 August 2011.

[4] A Brief History of Electromagnetism (PDF).

[22] Roger F Harrington (2003). Introduction to electromagnetic engineering. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. p.
56. ISBN 0-486-43241-6.

[5] Ulaby, Fawwaz (2007). Fundamentals of applied electromagnetics (5th ed.). Pearson:Prentice Hall. p. 255. ISBN
0-13-241326-4.
[6] Joseph Henry. Distinguished Members Gallery, National
Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
[7] Faraday, Michael; Day, P. (1999-02-01). The philosophers tree: a selection of Michael Faradays writings.
CRC Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-7503-0570-9. Retrieved
28 August 2011.
[8] Michael Faraday, by L. Pearce Williams, pp. 1823
[9] Michael Faraday, by L. Pearce Williams, p. 1915
[10] Michael Faraday, by L. Pearce Williams, p. 510
[11] Maxwell, James Clerk (1904), A Treatise on Electricity
and Magnetism, Vol. II, Third Edition. Oxford University Press, pp. 1789 and 189.
[12] Archives Biographies: Michael Faraday, The Institution
of Engineering and Technology.

[23] Davison, M. E. (1973). A Simple Proof that the Lorentz

Force, Law Implied Faradays Law of Induction, when
B is Time Independent. American Journal of Physics
41 (5): 713711.
Bibcode:1973AmJPh..41..713D.
doi:10.1119/1.1987339.
[24] Basic Theoretical Physics: A Concise Overview by Krey
and Owen, p155, google books link
[25] K. Simonyi, Theoretische Elektrotechnik, 5th edition,
VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1973,
equation 20, page 47
[26] Maxwell, J. C. (1861). On physical lines of force.
Philosophical Magazine (Taylor & Francis) 90: 1123.
doi:10.1080/1478643100365918.
[27] Griths, David J. (1999). Introduction to Electrodynamics (Third ed.). Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice Hall. pp.
3013. ISBN 0-13-805326-X. Note that the law relating
ux to EMF, which this article calls Faradays law, is
referred to in Griths terminology as the universal ux

rule. Griths uses the term Faradays law to refer to

what article calls the MaxwellFaraday equation. So in
fact, in the textbook, Griths statement is about the universal ux rule.
[28] A. Einstein, On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies

Further reading
Maxwell, James Clerk (1881), A treatise on electricity and magnetism, Vol. II, Chapter III, 530, p.
178. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-48660637-6.

External links
A simple interactive Java tutorial on electromagnetic
induction National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
R. Vega Induction: Faradays law and Lenzs law Highly animated lecture
Notes from Physics and Astronomy HyperPhysics at
Georgia State University
Tankersley and Mosca: Introducing Faradays law
A free java simulation on motional EMF

EXTERNAL LINKS

10
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