Magnetic dipole

Common card · No. 297434

In electromagnetism, a magnetic dipole is a theoretical description of a sufficiently small magnet such as that of an atom or electron. All magnets can be described as being a magnetic dipole for sufficiently large distances from the magnet. The strength of a magnetic dipole is determined by a single property: its magnetic dipole moment. The magnetic dipole model accurately predicts many properties of small magnets such as the magnetic field it produces, how it interacts with other magnetic dipoles, and how an external magnetic field will apply a torque or create a net force on the dipole. Two different models can be used to describe a magnetic dipole. The simplest to understand, but least correct, is to imagine the magnet as 2 equal but opposite poles that act similar to electric charges. The 'ideal' magnetic dipole then is modeled by shrinking the distance between the poles while increasing the magnetic pole strength such that product of the two (the magnetic dipole moment) remains at...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Geek3, CC BY-SA 4.0