[Physics] Why do magnets attract of repel objects, if magnetic field only chages the direction of particles

electromagnetismmagnetic fieldsspecial-relativity

If we have an resting iron ball, and we put near a magnet it would be move and accelerate. I'm understanding that the magnetic field is a relativistic effect of electric field, and if I consider magnetic field as just electric, it would be ok. But what about classic physic? How does it explain it?

Best Answer

First, relativity isn't needed to understand macroscopic magnetic effects such as the attraction of large magnetic objects. That was explained and understood well before Einstein's work; the explanation culminated in Maxwell's equations, but the magneto-static parts were well understood earlier in the 19th century. Relativity changed none of that (it was mechanics that had problems, not E&M)

It's true that there wasn't an agreed-upon microscopic explanation of why bulk iron would "magnetize", but the effect was well understood in terms of behavior: both the math and material-specific data were in common use for engineering in the 1880's.

The misconception comes from a statement that you'll occasionally see in a text books now, usually right after the Lorentz force ($\vec{F} = q \vec{v} \times \vec{B}$) is introduced: "Because $\vec{F}$ is always perpendicular to $\vec{v}$, the Lorentz force can do no work". That's true for the simple case of an individual electron moving (slowly) in a completely static magnetic field, but it's misleading for the macroscopic case: it's far from the situation of two bulk magnets attracting each other.

The force between two magnets involves a lot of electrons in different places, not just one. The combination of the Lorentz forces on those results in a net force on the magnet which can do work. The traditional diagram for that is: enter image description here

To say it another way, if the electrons move only under a Lorentz force, no work is done. But if they are also subject to mechanical forces which move them, then that motion may have a component along the Lorentz force, and work can be done.

But you don’t need to know electrons to understand this. A 19th century engineer or natural scientist ("physicist" wasn't in common use until very late) would understand attraction in a couple of ways:

  • There's more energy in the magnetic field(s) of two magnets oriented N-S when they're farther apart than when they're closer together: there's a mechanical force that turns that difference into work as the magnets move

  • A magnetic dipole in a non-uniform magnetic field feels a force. Each bit of the iron ball is a separate bit of magnet with its own dipole. Add those up, in the local field, to get the entire force.

Pre-relativity E&M worked with currents and fields ($\vec{E}$) and ($\vec{B}$) that, within the macroscopic domain, worked quite well. They didn't really know about the electron (1897) or the proton/nucleus(1911), let alone special relativity (1907), but they were able to explain and use magnetism quite well: The transformer dates back to the 1830's, for example.

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