ABSTRACT
We now introduce a series of new phenomena associated with steady electric currents, which are essentially the consequence of a new simple experimental fact – that conductors with currents exert forces on one another. These forces are called magnetic forces, and the field due to one current conductor in which the other conductor is situated and which causes the force on it is called the magnetic field. Any motion of electric charges and any electric current are followed by the magnetic field. The magnetic field due to steady electric currents is termed the steady (static) magnetic field or magnetostatic field. The theory of the magnetostatic field, the magnetostatics, restricted to a vacuum and nonmagnetic media is the subject of this chapter. The magnetic materials will be studied in the following chapter.
