Magnetism plays an important role in Electrical and Electronic Engineering because without it components such as relays, solenoids, inductors, chokes, coils, loudspeakers, motors, generators, transformers, and electricity meters would not work! Electromagnetism is the relationship between electricity and magnetism, and it’s the foundation of electric motors, as well as generators and transformers.
Michael Faraday discovered the relationship between magnetic fields and electricity in the 1830s. One of his most important contributions to the field is Faraday’s Law of Electromagnetic Induction, which states: “any change to the magnetic environment of a coil of wire (a conductor) will cause a voltage to be induced in the coil. And if the coil is closed, current will flow.”
Basically, as long as there is relative motion between the magnetic field and the coil, a voltage will be induced. “Magnetism is a force, but it has no energy of its own,” says David Cohen-Tanugi, vice president of the MIT Energy Club and a John S. Hennessy Fellow in MIT’s Materials Science and Engineering department. However, “magnetism is extremely useful for converting energy from one form to another. About 99% of the power generated from fossil fuels, nuclear and hydroelectric energy, and wind comes from systems that use magnetism in the conversion process.”
Magnets are employed in almost everything in our world, from generators and motors in hybrid cars to computer hard drives. Researchers are also currently investigating the potential of rare earth magnets, which are strong permanent magnets composed of alloys of rare earth elements. They represent the next generation in magnetism’s role in energy production.
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