PROPER WAY OF MEASURING

CURRENT & VOLTAGES

CURRENT
•a measure of how much electric
charge flows through a circuit. The
more charge that flows, the bigger
the current.
•Current is measured in units
called amps (A).
 MEASURING CURRENT
•A device called an ammeter is used to
measure current. Some types of ammeter
have a pointer on a dial, but most have a
digital readout. To measure the current
flowing through a component in a circuit,
you must connect the ammeter in series with
 VOLTAGE
•is a measure of the difference
in electrical energy between two parts
of a circuit. The bigger the difference
in energy, the bigger the voltage.
MEASURING VOLTAGE
•is measured using a voltmeter. Some types
of voltmeter have a pointer on a dial, but
most have a digital readout. To measure
the voltage across a component in a circuit,
you must connect the voltmeter
in parallel with it.
•Voltage is measured using a voltmeter.
Some types of voltmeter have a pointer
on a dial, but most have a digital
readout. To measure the voltage across
a component in a circuit, you must
connect the voltmeter in parallel with
 CURRENT IN SERIES CIRCUITS
•The current is the same everywhere
in a series circuit. It does not matter
where you put the ammeter, it will
give you the same reading.
ADDING MORE CELLS

•The current in a series circuit

depends upon the number of cells.
The more cells you add, the greater
the current.
SIMPLE SERIES CIRCUIT
SIMPLE PARALLEL CIRCUIT
•Ideal voltmeters have infinite resistance,
while ideal ammeters have zero resistance.
Connecting a voltmeter in parallel or an
ammeter in series to a circuit element
therefore does not change the current. An
ideal measurement should not change the
state of the circuit element.
 PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF
CURRENT
•Even if the potential difference is large, so long as
there is very small current, no harm will occur. Dry
skin has a high resistance compared to wet skin or
open sores or if covered in conducting gel. It is the
magnitude of the current that determines the
physiological effects.
MAGNETIC FIELD
•is a vector field that describes the
magnetic influence of electrical
currents and magnetized
materials.
The Earth behaves
like a magnet
because the Earth is
a magnet. It is not a
permanent magnet,
but an
electromagnet.
•An electromagnet is a type of magnet in which the 
magnetic field is produced by an electric current. The
magnetic field disappears when the current is turned
off. A permanent magnet is an object made from a
material that is magnetized and creates its own
persistent magnetic field. An everyday example is a 
refrigerator magnet used to hold notes on a
refrigerator door.
•We now understand why. Deep in the Earth,
molten metal (mostly iron) flows due to heat
which causes convection. (The heat appears to
be generated by iron condensing at the solid
core.) This flow tends to organize itself into
patterns, just like the patterns you’ll see in oil if
you heat it in a frying pan.
•Convection is the heat transfer due
to bulk movement of molecules
 within fluids such as gases and 
liquids, including molten rock.
CONVECTION
 Aurora borealis
Our sun is 93 million miles away. But its
effects extend far beyond its visible
surface. Great storms on the sun send gusts
of charged solar particles hurtling across
space. If Earth is in the path of the particle
stream, our planet’s magnetic field and
atmosphere react.
When the charged particles from
the sun strike atoms and molecules
in Earth’s atmosphere,
they excite those atoms, causing
them to light up.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR AN ATOM TO
BE EXCITED?
 Atoms consist of a central nucleus and a
surrounding cloud of electrons encircling the
nucleus in an orbit. When charged particles from
the sun strike atoms in Earth’s atmosphere,
electrons move to higher-energy orbits, further
away from the nucleus. Then when an electron
moves back to a lower-energy orbit, it releases a
particle of light or photon.
STRUCTURE OF AN ATOM
AURORA BOREALIS
•What happens in an aurora is similar to what
happens in the neon lights we see on many
business signs. Electricity is used to excite the
atoms in the neon gas within the glass tubes
of a neon sign. That’s why these signs give off
their brilliant colors. The aurora works on the
same principle – but at a far more vast scale.
•The aurora often appears as curtains of lights,
but they can also be arcs or spirals, often
following lines of force in Earth’s magnetic
field. Most are green in color but sometimes
you’ll see a hint of pink, and strong displays
might also have red, violet and white colors.
•The lights typically are seen in the far north –
the nations bordering the Arctic Ocean – Canada
and Alaska, Scandinavian countries, Iceland,
Greenland and Russia. But strong displays of the
lights can extend down into more southerly
latitudes in the United States. And of course, the
lights have a counterpart at Earth’s south polar
regions.
The colors in the aurora were also a
source of mystery throughout human
history. But science says that different
gases in Earth’s atmosphere give off
different colors when they are excited.
Oxygen gives off the green color of the
aurora, for example. Nitrogen causes
blue or red colors.
So today the mystery of the aurora is not so
mysterious as it used to be. Yet people still travel
thousands of miles to see the brilliant natural
light shows in Earth’s atmosphere. And even
though we know the scientific reason for the
aurora, the dazzling natural light show can still
fire our imaginations to visualize fire bridges,
gods or dancing ghosts.
 BY RUSLAN MERZLYAKOV
JENNIFER KHORDI CAPTURED THIS AURORA
OVER THE CATSKILLS OF NEW YORK
AURORA JUST WEST OF SASKATOON, BY COLIN CHATFIELD. HE
SAID, “WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO LEAVE AS THE AURORA WAS JUST
A DULL BAND, THEN IT CAME ALIVE FOR ABOUT AN HOUR OR SO
… IT IS NOT VERY VISIBLE, BUT I CAUGHT COMET LOVEJOY AT
CENTRE LEFT OF THIS PHOTO.”
 MAGNET BASICS
A permanent magnet is an object that produces a
magnetic field around itself.  It is this field that
enables them to stick to each other and to some
types of metal.  Specifically, they stick to 
ferromagnetic materials like iron and things that
contain iron, such as steel.
 WHEN WILL MAGNETS ATTRACT OR
REPEL EACH OTHER?
•The rule to remember is that opposites attract.  Every magnet
has both a North and a South pole.  When you place the
North pole of one magnet near the South pole of another
magnet, they are attracted to one another.
•When you place like poles of two magnets near each other
(North to North or South to South), they will repel each
other.
 INTERACTION BETWEEN MAGNETIC POLES:
LIKE POLES REPEL; UNLIKE POLES ATTRACT.

•A magnet sets up a magnetic field in surrounding

space. It is represented by field lines which go from
a north pole (N-pole) round to a south pole (S-pole).
The direction of the field line gives the direction of
the magnetic force acting on a north pole. The point
at which the magnetic fields cancel each other out is
called a neutral point.
ATTRACTION
•When two magnets or magnetic objects are
close to each other, there is a force that
attracts the poles together.
 REPULSION
•When two magnetic objects have like poles facing
each other, the magnetic force pushes them apart.
 ELECTRIC CHARGES AND MAGNETISM
SIMILAR

•Just as the positive (+) and negative (−)

electrical charges attract each other, the N
and S poles of a magnet attract each other.
•In electricity like charges repel, and in
magnetism like poles repel.
DO ALL MAGNETS HAVE POLES?

•Yes, all magnets have both a North

and South magnetic pole.
CAN A MAGNET HAVE ONLY ONE POLE?

•If a bar magnet is cut in half, it is not the

case that one half has the north pole and
the other half has the south pole. Instead,
each piece has its own north and
southpoles.
 WHY SHOULD YOU NOT DROP MAGNETS
ON THE FLOOR?
•Permanent magnets can lose their magnetism if
they are dropped or banged on enough to bump
their domains out of alignment. ... The reason
that would be hard to bump a piece of iron and
make it magnetic is because of the way
vibrations propagate in the material.
 DO MAGNETS EVER LOSE THEIR
MAGNETISM?
• Yes, it is possible for a permanent magnet to lose its magnetism. There
are three common ways for this to occur: 
1. Via heat- ferromagnet materials will lose their magnetism if heated.
2.  Via a demagnetizing magnetic field- permanent magnets exhibit a
characteristic called coercivity, which is the ability of a material to
withstand being demagnetized by an applied magnetic field.
3. Via shock- this really only applies to older materials such as
magnetic steels
 STRONGEST MAGNETS IN THE
WORLD
•Magnetars are the most powerful magnets in the
universe. Magnetars are the bizarre super-dense
remnants of supernova explosions and
the strongest magnets known in the universe.
•A magnetar is a type of
neutron star believed to have an extremely
powerful magnetic field. The magnetic field
decay powers the emission of high-energy
electromagnetic radiation, particularly X-rays
and gamma rays.
MAGNETAR IN ACTION
SOLAR FLARE
GRAVITATIONAL, ELECTRIC &
MAGNETIC
•Gravitational forces are the forces of
attraction between two bodies due to their
masses and magnetic forces are those
experienced when two objects interact in
which there is charge in motion.
•Gravitational force is a force through which a large
objects pulls another object to it. It is the weight of
the object . Don't confuse between mass and weight.
Mass remains constant but your weight won't. 
•Magnetic force is experienced when two magnetic
materials are brought together they attract or repel
each other according to their position or poles . 
 WHAT IS AN EXAMPLE OF GRAVITATIONAL
INTERACTION?

•The earth and the moon.

•It is the earth's gravity which keeps the
moon in its orbit. It is the moon gravity
which causes the tides on the oceans of the
earth.
MYSTERIOUS PLACES WITH
NO GRAVITY!
 THE GRAVITATIONAL FORCE OF THE
MOON ON OBJECTS ON THE EARTH
Just as the Earth pulls on the Moon, the Moon
pulls on the Earth and everything else in space.
The strength of the Moon's gravitational force is
given by Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation
F = G m MMoon / r2Moon
MAGNETIC FIELD LINES
• describe the direction of the magnetic force on a
north monopole at any given position. 
• A magnetic monopole is a hypothetical 
elementary particle in particle physics that is an
isolated magnet with only one magnetic pole (a
north pole without a south pole or vice versa)
• there is no experimental or observational evidence
that magnetic monopoles exist.
MAGNETIC FLUX

•is defined as the total number

of magnetic field lines through a coil or
given area. The normal component of
the magnetic field is passing through the
area.
• It is denoted as ΦB and the unit
is measured in Weber (Wb).
Magnetic flux is a vector quantity.

Where, B is the magnetic field, A is the surface area

and θ is the angle between the normal to the surface
and magnetic field
MAGNETIC FLUX THROUGH A CLOSED
SURFACE

•Gauss's law for magnetism, which is one of

the four Maxwell's equations, states that the
total magnetic flux through a closed surface is
equal to zero. (A "closed surface" is a surface
that completely encloses a volume(s) with no
holes.) 
MAGNETIC FLUX THROUGH AN OPEN
SURFACE
•While the magnetic flux through a 
closed surface is always zero, the magnetic
flux through an open surface need not be zero
and is an important quantity in
electromagnetism.
MAGNETIC FLUX PROBLEMS
1. Dimension of a rectangular loop is given as 0.051m and 0.068m. B
and θ are 0.02Tesla and 47° respectively. Calculate
the magnetic flux through the given surface?

Dimensions of rectangular loop = 0.051m and 0.068m, B

= 0.02T, θ = 47°
Magnetic flux formula is,
ΦBΦB = BACosθθ
Area, A = 0.051×0.068 = 0.003468m2
ΦB = 0.02 × 0.003468 × Cos 47
ΦB = 0.02 × 0.003468 × 0.6819 = 4.73 ×10−5 Wb
2. The floor dimension of a house is 22m
by 18m. Vertical component of
the magnetic field is given as 4.2×10-5T,
calculate the magnetic flux?
Dimensions of house = 22m by 18m, B = 4.2×10-5T, Since
it is a vertical component, θ = 0°
Magnetic flux formula is,
ΦB = BACosθ
Area, A = 22 × 18 = 396m2
ΦB = 4.2×10-5 × 396 × Cos0
ΦB = 4.2×10-5 × 396 × 1 = 1.66 ×10−2Wb
A magnet produces a flux of 200Wb through a
rectangular region 40 mm wide and 30 mm high,
perpendicular to the direction of the field.
Calculate the magnetic field through the region.
In an area of 2 m there are 6 field lines
2

each representing a flux of 1 Wb. What is

the flux magnetic field?
Calculate the magnetic flux through a
rectangular wire frame 3.0m long and 2.0 m
wide if the magnetic field through the frame is
4.2 X 10-3. Assume that the angle between the
magnetic field and the area vector is 300.
A magnetic field of a small magnet is
0.2T and covers an area of 0.12m2.
Calculate the magnetic flux.
A magnetic flux of 2.5Wb is
measured in an area of 0.25m2.
Calculate the magnetic field strength.
A strong electromagnet produces a
field of 1.5T and has a flux of
0.54Wb. Calculate the area that the
field covered.