2007-02-13 10:35:25 · 5 answers · asked by pk_harrison 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
There are mathematical equations which describe electricity and magnetism, and enable us to design experiments or equipment and predict exactly how they will behave. These were arrived at by the great Scottish mathematician and physicist James Clerk Maxwell in 1864. They describe electricity and magnetism together, and show that you can't have one without the other. A current flowing in a conductor generates a magnetic field. A moving magnetic field generates a current in a conductor. A light wave propagates by its electrical component generating a magnetic component which generates an electrical component which . . .
Okay, for school purposes we can devise electrical or magnetic experiments that can be correctly modelled by simplifiications of the equations, each time ignoring the other component. But you can only get so far before you have to start treating them as a pair of linked properties. Yes, they're different, but they're each a part of a single combined natural phenomenon.
2007-02-14 23:40:01 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Magnetism is chiefly a phenomenon which centers around Iron and alloys of Iron and similar metals. Electricity flows through Aluminum, for example, even though it isn't magnetic. The underlying fundamental behavior of both electricity and magnetism are very similar... they are intertwined inextricably: If you put a magnet near a wire, it induces an electric current, and vice versa. This is the basic principle underlying the function of electric motors and generators, one is the reverse of the other.
2007-02-13 18:46:55 · answer #2 · answered by eggman 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Electricity is when electrons flow in a conductor. In a DC circuit it flows from negative to positive, unless you subscribe to hole flow theory. In a AC circuit the polarity changes constantly from negative to positive. Magnetism is when a static field exist such as a bar magnet and will attract ferrous material to it. You can produce electricity by passing a conductor through a magnetic force. The earth has a magnetic field associated with it.
2007-02-13 19:12:22 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
electricity is power,magnetism is when to unlike poles of something magnetic come together. I don't know if this is your answer, I don't think I understood it.
2007-02-13 18:43:15 · answer #4 · answered by sweet pea 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
what's the similarity?
2007-02-13 18:39:55 · answer #5 · answered by angel 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋