Section 1:

Inducing
Currents
Essential Questions
 What is induced EMF?

 What affects the induced EMF and current produced by

a changing magnetic field?

 How does a generator produce electrical energy?

 How are the effective current and effective potential

difference related to the maximum values of these
quantities in an AC circuit?

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Vocabulary
Review New
 potential difference • electromagnetic induction
• induced electromotive force
• electric generator

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

 Changing Magnetic Fields

• An electric current can be generated in a wire in a

circuit when at least part of the wire moves
through, and cuts, magnetic field lines.

• Field lines can be cut when a segment of wire

moves through a stationary magnetic field, when a
magnetic field moves past a stationary wire, or
when the strength of a magnetic field changes
around a wire.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

 Changing Magnetic Fields

• It is the relative motion between a wire and a

magnetic field that can produce current.

• Electromagnetic induction is the process of

generating current through a wire in a circuit in a
changing magnetic field.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Changing Magnetic Fields

• The potential difference given to the charges by a battery is

called the electromotive force (EMF).

• Electromotive force, however, is not actually a force; instead, it

is a potential difference and is measured in volts.

• When you move a wire through a magnetic field, you exert a

force on the charges and they move in the direction of the
force.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Changing Magnetic Fields

• Work is done on the charges. Their electrical potential energy,

and thus their potential, is increased. This difference in
potential is called the induced electromagnetic force.

• The EMF of a wire moving in a magnetic field depends on the

magnetic field (B), the length of the wire in the magnetic field
(L), and the velocity of the wire in the field that is
perpendicular to the field (v(sin θ)).

Induced Electromotive
EMF  BLv sin  
Force in a Wire

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Changing Magnetic Fields
• You can use a right-hand rule to find the direction of the induced
current.
Go to your ConnectED resources to play Animation: Electromagnetic
Induction.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

A straight wire, 0.30 m long, moves at a constant speed of
10.0 m/s perpendicular to a 0.20-T magnetic field. What is
the induced EMF in the wire? What is the current in the wire
if it is part of a circuit with a resistance of 25 Ω?
KNOWN UNKNOWN
B = 0.20 T R = 25 Ω EMF = ?
v = 10.0 θ = 90° I=?
m/s
L = 0.30 m
SOLVE FOR THE UNKNOWN
• Use the relationship among EMF, magnetic field, length, and velocity.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

A straight wire, 0.30 m long, moves at a constant speed of
10.0 m/s perpendicular to a 0.20-T magnetic field. What is
the induced EMF in the wire? What is the current in the wire
if it is part of a circuit with a resistance of 25 Ω?
KNOWN UNKNOWN
B = 0.20 T R = 25 Ω EMF = ?
v = 10.0 θ = 90° I=?
m/s
L = 0.30 m
SOLVE FOR THE UNKNOWN
• Use the relationship among current, potential difference, and resistance.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Changing Magnetic Fields

• A microphone is a simple application

that depends on an induced EMF.

• The microphone shown has a

diaphragm attached to a coil of wire
that is free to move in a magnetic field.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

 Changing Magnetic Fields

• Sound waves vibrate the diaphragm,

which moves the coil in the magnetic
field, inducing an EMF across the ends of
the coil.

• The induced EMF varies as the frequency

of the sound varies. In this way, the sound
wave is converted to an electrical signal.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Electric Generators

• An electric generator converts mechanical energy to electrical

energy.

• An electric generator consists of a number of wire loops placed in a

strong magnetic field.
• The wire may be wound around an iron core to increase the
strength of the magnetic field.

• The iron and the wires are called the armature, which is similar to
that of an electric motor.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Electric Generators
• The armature is mounted so that it can rotate freely in the
magnetic field.

• As the armature turns, the wire loops cut through the magnetic field
lines
and induce an EMF. When a generator is connected in a closed
circuit, the induced EMF produces an electric current.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Electric Generators

• The EMF developed by the generator depends on the length of the

wire rotating in the field.

• Increasing the number of loops in the armature increases the wire

length, which increases the induced EMF.
• We will examine a single-loop generator without an iron core.

• The direction of the induced current can be found from the third
right-hand rule.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Electric Generators
• As the loop rotates, the strength and the direction of the current
change.

• The current is greatest when the loop’s velocity is perpendicular to

the magnetic field.

• As the loop rotates, it moves through the magnetic field lines at an

ever-increasing angle. Thus, it cuts through fewer magnetic field
lines per unit of time, and the current decreases.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

 Electric Generators
• When the loop is in the vertical position, the wire segments move
parallel to the field and the current is zero.

• As the loop continues to turn, the segment that was moving up

begins to move down and reverses the direction of the current in the
loop.

• This change in direction takes place each time the loop turns
through 180°.

• The current changes smoothly from zero to some maximum value

and back to zero during each half-turn of the loop. Then it reverses
direction.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Electric Generators

• Generators and motors are almost identical in construction, but

they convert energy in opposite directions.

• A generator converts mechanical energy to electrical energy,

while a motor converts electrical energy to mechanical energy.

Motor Generator

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Electric Generators

• An energy source turns the armature of a

generator in a magnetic field at a fixed number of
revolutions per second.

• The brush and slip-ring arrangement permits the

armature to turn freely while still allowing the
current to pass into the external circuit.

• As the armature turns, the current alternates

between some maximum value and zero.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Electric Generators

• The power produced by a generator is the

product of the current and the voltage. Because
both current and voltage vary, the power
associated with an alternating current varies.

• Note that power is always positive because

I and V are either both positive or both negative.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Electric Generators
• Average power, PAC, is half the maximum power: PAC = ½Pmax.

• It is common to describe alternating current and voltage in terms

of effective current and voltage, rather than referring to their
maximum values.

• Recall that P = I 2R. Thus, you can express effective current (I eff ) in
terms of the average AC power: PAC = I eff 2R.

• To determine I eff in terms of maximum current (I max), start with the

power relationship (PAC = ½Pmax) and  2substitute
 in I 2R. Then solve
forEffective
I eff. Current  eff    max  0.707 max
 2 

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Electric Generators
• Similarly, the following equation can be used to express effective
voltage.
 2
Effective Voltage Veff  Vmax  0.707Vmax
 2 

• Effective voltage also is commonly referred to as RMS (root mean

square) voltage.

• In the United States, Veff = 120 V for most wall outlets. The actual
voltage oscillates at a rate of 60 Hz.

• The frequency and effective voltage that are used vary in different
countries.

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents

Review
Essential Questions
 What is induced EMF?
 What affects the induced EMF and current produced by a changing
magnetic field?
 How does a generator produce electrical energy?
 How are the effective current and effective potential difference
related to the maximum values of these quantities in an AC circuit?

Vocabulary
• electromagnetic • induced • electric
induction electromotive generator
force

Copyright © McGraw-Hill Education Inducing Currents