Q.Lenz's law is the consequence of conservation of :
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Electromagnetic Induction
Electromagnetic induction is the phenomenon in which a changing magnetic flux through a circuit produces an electromotive force (emf) — and hence a current, if the circuit is closed. It is the single idea behind generators, transformers, inductors, and the entire AC power grid.
The Central Discovery
Michael Faraday found (1831) that a current is induced in a coil not when a magnet sits still near it, but only while the magnet moves — that is, only while the magnetic flux linked with the coil is changing. A steady magnet, however strong, induces nothing.
Magnetic Flux
The key quantity is magnetic flux through a surface of area in a field :
where is the angle between and the area's normal. Its SI unit is the weber (Wb), where .
Flux can change in three distinct ways, and any of them induces an emf:
- the field strength changes,
- the area of the loop changes,
- the orientation changes (a coil rotating in a field — the basis of the generator).
Faraday's Law
The induced emf equals the negative rate of change of flux. For a coil of turns:
The faster the flux changes, the larger the emf. This is why a magnet dropped quickly through a coil gives a bigger deflection than one moved slowly.
Lenz's Law — the Minus Sign
The negative sign expresses Lenz's law: the induced current flows in the direction that opposes the change producing it. Push a magnet's north pole toward a coil, and the coil's near face becomes a north pole to repel it; pull it away, and the face becomes a south pole to attract it. This is simply energy conservation — you must do work against this opposition, and that work becomes the electrical energy of the induced current.
Motional emf
A special, very useful case: a conducting rod of length moving with speed perpendicular to a field sweeps out area and develops an emf
Here the emf arises because the free charges in the rod experience a magnetic force , which drives them along the rod. …
Why this formula?
Electromagnetic Induction
Electromagnetic induction is the effect discovered by Faraday: a changing magnetic flux through a circuit drives an induced EMF (and hence a current). The key word is changing — a steady field, however strong, induces nothing.
Magnetic flux
Flux measures how many field lines thread a surface bounded by the loop:
It can change three ways: by changing , by changing the area , or by rotating the loop (changing ).
Faraday's law
The induced EMF equals the rate of change of flux:
For a coil of turns, . The EMF depends on how fast the flux changes, not on the flux itself — a slow change gives a small EMF, a rapid change a large one.
Lenz's law — the minus sign …
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