Maxwell's Electromagnetic Theory: Difference between revisions

From Physics Book
Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 32: Line 32:
==History==
==History==


When James Clerk Maxwell came out with his paper, "A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field," in 1865, it was found hard to understand and widely ignored. Even so, it is one of the most important pieces of theory in our history.  
When James Clerk Maxwell came out with his paper, "A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field," in 1865, it was found hard to understand and widely ignored. Even so, it is one of the most important pieces of theory in our history. He himself almost downplayed the importance of his theory, putting more emphasis on Kelvin's vortex theory during his address. Furthermore, it was hard to grasp the concept of intangible fields. Scientists, including Maxwell, tried to picture fields as tangible structures, but to use these mechanical models with the Maxwell equations, they had to be exceedingly complicated.
 
 




Line 41: Line 43:


===Further reading===
===Further reading===
The theory itself:


http://www.ymambrini.com/My_World/History_files/maxwell_emf_1865.pdf
http://www.ymambrini.com/My_World/History_files/maxwell_emf_1865.pdf


===External links===
==References==


Internet resources on this topic
http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/tong/em/dyson.pdf


==References==


This section contains the the references you used while writing this page


[[Category: Theory]]
[[Category: Theory]]

Revision as of 13:23, 1 December 2015

Claimed by Megan Sales

A general description of "A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field," proposed by Maxwell in 1865.

The Main Idea

Maxwell's theory proposed that electric and magnetic fields move as waves at the speed of light. This was the first time electricity, magnetism, and light had been related in such a way. The theory is also the source of the heavily used Maxwell Equations.

A Mathematical Model

Maxwell Equations:


A Computational Model

How do we visualize or predict using this topic. Consider embedding some vpython code here Teach hands-on with GlowScript

Examples

Be sure to show all steps in your solution and include diagrams whenever possible

Simple

Middling

Difficult

Connectedness

  1. How is this topic connected to something that you are interested in?
  2. How is it connected to your major?
  3. Is there an interesting industrial application?

History

When James Clerk Maxwell came out with his paper, "A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field," in 1865, it was found hard to understand and widely ignored. Even so, it is one of the most important pieces of theory in our history. He himself almost downplayed the importance of his theory, putting more emphasis on Kelvin's vortex theory during his address. Furthermore, it was hard to grasp the concept of intangible fields. Scientists, including Maxwell, tried to picture fields as tangible structures, but to use these mechanical models with the Maxwell equations, they had to be exceedingly complicated.



See also

Are there related topics or categories in this wiki resource for the curious reader to explore? How does this topic fit into that context?

Further reading

The theory itself:

http://www.ymambrini.com/My_World/History_files/maxwell_emf_1865.pdf

References

http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/tong/em/dyson.pdf