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The magnetic field is generated by a feedback loop: current loops generate magnetic fields (Ampère's circuital law); a changing magnetic field generates an electric field (Faraday's law); and the electric and magnetic fields exert a force on the charges that are flowing in currents (the Lorentz force). [58]
A magnetic field (sometimes called B-field [1]) is a physical field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, [2]: ch1 [3] and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to the magnetic field.
The magnetic field of a magnetic dipole has an inverse cubic dependence in distance, so its order of magnitude at the earth surface can be approximated by multiplying the above result with (R outer core ⁄ R Earth) 3 = (2890 ⁄ 6370) 3 = 0.093 , giving 2.5×10 −5 Tesla, not far from the measured value of 3×10 −5 Tesla at the equator.
Plot showing field lines (which, in three dimensions would describe "shells") for L-values 1.5, 2, 3, 4 and 5 using a dipole model of the Earth's magnetic field. The L-shell, L-value, or McIlwain L-parameter (after Carl E. McIlwain) is a parameter describing a particular set of planetary magnetic field lines.
The liquid outer core moves in the presence of the magnetic field and eddies are set up into the same due to the Coriolis effect. [18] These eddies develop a magnetic field which boosts Earth's original magnetic field—a process which is self-sustaining and is called the geomagnetic dynamo. [19] Reversals of Earth's magnetic field
The application of this law implicitly relies on the superposition principle for magnetic fields, i.e. the fact that the magnetic field is a vector sum of the field created by each infinitesimal section of the wire individually. [6] For example, consider the magnetic field of a loop of radius carrying a current .
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Study of Earth's magnetosphere began in 1600, when William Gilbert discovered that the magnetic field on the surface of Earth resembled that of a terrella, a small, magnetized sphere. In the 1940s, Walter M. Elsasser proposed the model of dynamo theory, which attributes Earth's magnetic field to the motion of Earth's iron outer core.