A general law for electromagnetic induction

Dipartimento di Fisica “Volta” - Via Bassi 6, I 27100, Pavia, Italy

Corresponding author: giuliani@fisicavolta.unipv.it

Received: 31 August 2007
Accepted: 19 January 2008

Abstract

The definition of the induced emf as the integral over a closed loop of the Lorentz force acting on a unit positive charge leads immediately to a general law for electromagnetic induction phenomena. The general law is applied to three significant cases: moving bar, Faraday's and Corbino's disc. This last application illustrates the contribution of the drift velocity of the charges to the induced emf : the magneto-resistance effect is obtained without using microscopic models of electrical conduction. Maxwell wrote down “general equations of electromotive intensity” that, integrated over a closed loop, yield the general law for electromagnetic induction, if the velocity appearing in them is correctly interpreted. The flux of the magnetic field through an arbitrary surface that have the circuit as contour is not the cause of the induced emf. The flux rule must be considered as a calculation shortcut for predicting the value of the induced emf when the circuit is filiform. Finally, the general law of electromagnetic induction yields the induced emf in both reference frames of a system composed by a magnet and a circuit in relative uniform motion, as required by special relativity.