Physics Bootcamp

A moving conductor experiences a retarding force when moving in a region of magnetic field. This effect is called magnetic braking. It has a number of applications. Magnetic braking can be understood on the basis of Faraday’s law as follows.

A continuous conductor provides infinitely many loops in which electrons can freely move. Therefore, if you place a conductor in a magnetic field such that the magnetic flux through any part of the conductor changes, currents would be induced in the body of the conductor. These currents are called Eddy’s currents.

The existence of Eddy’s current in conductors is responsible for magnetic braking. The changing magnetic flux through a conductor induces Eddy’s currents inside the conductor, which are then subject to magnetic force from the magnetic field.

Illustration of magnetic braking. Consider a metal bar suspended at one end as shown in Figure 38.37. When the bar is released, it goes between the poles of a magnet. Suppose, the magnetic poles are arranged so that the magnetic field in the plane of the metal bar’s motion is pointed out-of-page.

When the bar enters the non-zero field region, a clockwise current is induced inside the bar. Some of these loops are large enough that magnetic field acts only on the left end of the loop. This gives a net force on the bar pointed in the opposite direction of velocity as shown in Figure 38.37. Since acceleration is in the opposite direction to velocity, the bar slows down when entering a region of non-zero magnetic field. The kinetic energy of the bar is converted into thermal energy by current inside the conductor.

The energy in Eddy currents dissipate away as heat. Therefore a conducting body can be heated by changing flux through the body. This way of heating is called magnetic heating. Heating devices have been built that heat interior organs of human body by inducing Eddy’s current.