ABSTRACT

In the previous chapter we introduced the concept of charge and the electric fields that surround charges of similar or opposite polarity when placed in close proximity to one another. This latter arrangement of dissimilar charges is referred to as an electric dipole. A comparable phenomenon exists in magnetism, where a magnetic dipole is created by a bar magnet having north and south poles at its opposite extremities. Like electric charge, magnetic flux is present in the natural world and anyone who has used a compass for navigation will have benefited from its effects. We begin this chapter by explaining what magnetic flux is and how it is quantified, before moving on to describe the ways in which flux can be shaped and concentrated in inductors.