Electromagnetic Induction

Electricity and magne­tism are intimately connected. In the early part of the nineteenth century, the experiments of Oersted, Ampere and others established that moving charges (currents) produce a magnetic field. The converse effect is also true i.e., moving magnets can produce electric currents.

In 1831, Michael Faraday in England and almost simul­taneously Joseph Henry in the U.S.A. discovered that currents are produced in a loop of wire if a magnet is suddenly moved towards the loop or away from the loop such that the magnetic flux across the loop changes. The current in the loop lasts so long as the flux is changing. This phenomenon is called electromagnetic induction which means inducing electricity by magnetism.

The phenomenon of production of induced emf (and hence induced current) due to a change of magnetic flux linked with a closed circuit is called electromagnetic induction.

The phenomenon of electromagnetic induction is of great practical importance in daily life. It forms the basis of the modern generators and transformers. Modern civilisation owes a great deal to the discovery of electromagnetic induction.

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