what are the properties of electromagnetism?

Question

physics

Answer 1

You do realize that this is the subject of both upper level undergraduate and graduate classes in physics? And that is if you only want to study classical electromagnetism. If you want to do the quantum version, it is an upper level graduate class.

The basics are as follows:
There are two vector fields: the electric field and the magnetic field.
Electric fields are caused by charges and changing magnetic fields.
Magnetic fields are caused by moving charges and changing electric fields.
The force on a charge comes from the electric field acting directly on the charge and in line with the electric field *and* the magnetic field acting perpendicular to the direction the charge is moving and perpendicular to the magnetic field.

Light consists of oscillating electric and magnetic fields.

Answer 2

Electromagnetism is the force observed as static electricity, and causes the flow of electric charge (electric current) in electrical conductors.

The magnetic field is produced by the motion of electric charges, i.e. electric current. The magnetic field causes the magnetic force associated with magnets.

The term "electromagnetism" comes from the fact that electrical and magnetic forces are involved simultaneously. A changing magnetic field produces an electric field (this is the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction, which provides for the operation of electrical generators, induction motors, and transformers). Similarly, a changing electric field generates a magnetic field. Because of this interdependence of the electric and magnetic fields, it makes sense to consider them as a single coherent entity — the electromagnetic field.

This unification, which was completed by James Clerk Maxwell, is one of the triumphs of 19th century physics. It had far-reaching consequences, one of which was the understanding of the nature of light. As it turns out, what is thought of as "light" is actually a propagating oscillatory disturbance in the electromagnetic field, i.e., an electromagnetic wave. Different frequencies of oscillation give rise to the different forms of electromagnetic radiation, from radio waves at the lowest frequencies, to visible light at intermediate frequencies, to gamma rays at the highest frequencies.

The theoretical implications of electromagnetism led to the development of special relativity by Albert Einstein in 1905.