magnetism
The hint of symmetry between electricity and magnetism found in the preceding chapter will be elaborated upon in this chapter. Specifically, we know that a current creates a magnetic field. If nature is symmetric here, then perhaps a magnetic field can create a current. The Hall effect is a voltage caused by a magnetic force. That voltage could drive a current. Historically, it was very shortly after Oersted discovered currents cause magnetic fields that other scientists asked the following question: Can magnetic fields cause currents? The answer was soon found by experiment to be yes. In 1831, some 12 years after Oersteds discovery, the English scientist Michael Faraday 17911862 and the American scientist Joseph Henry 17971878 independently demonstrated that magnetic fields can produce currents. The basic process of generating emfs electromotive force and, hence, currents with magnetic fields is known as induction; this process is also called magnetic induction to distinguish it from charging by induction, which utilizes the Coulomb force. Today, currents induced by magnetic fields are essential to our technological society. The ubiquitous generatorfound in automobiles, on bicycles, in nuclear power plants, and so onuses magnetism to generate current. Other devices that use magnetism to induce currents include pickup coils in electric guitars, transformers of every size, certain microphones, airport security gates, and damping mechanisms on sensitive chemical balances. Not so familiar perhaps, but important nevertheless, is that the behavior of AC circuits depends strongly on the effect of magnetic fields on currents.