What is a Magnetic Dipole Moment ? (Electromagnetism, Physics)

Dipole Moments, maybe you’ve heard about this concept at school or at university? Maybe you even have used them when solving a question or problem related to electromagnetism? Yet, do you actually know what these things truly represent? Well, with this video, you will!

Magnetic dipole moments (MDMs) play a crucial role in various scientific domains:
_ Of course in Physics, you cannot get around these little beasts if you study electromagnetism.
_ In Chemistry MDMs are important in understanding the behavior and structure of atoms and molecules.
_ In Material Sciences, MDMs are obviously intimately related to the magnetic properties of materials.
_ The Medical sector rely strongly on MDMs for imaging detailed images of the body (MRI).
_ Planetology models the magnetic field of a planet by considering an MDM at the center of the planet.
_In electrical engineering, the concept of MDM is used when designing or analyzing circuits which involve electromagnetic fields.

So you see, understanding the notion of dipole moment is a must have for any student that is interested in science. In can be a little abstract, so the first part of the video introduces the viewer to something a little more familiar, electric dipole moments. Then, by mathematical analogy, magnetic dipole moments are presented and their true nature revealed.

When the video ends, stay a little… After the shooting, I took a few improvised rushes just for fun. For the first time, you will see me sharing a thought while in a state of complete improvisation. If you want more of these in future videos, let me know in the comment section of the video when it comes out.

Enjoy,

- - - - - - - - -
Structure of the video:

00:00 Introduction
00:29 Content of the video
00:46 What is an Electric Dipole Moment?
02:17 The electric field generated by an electric dipole moment.
03:33 Effect of an external electric field on an electric dipole moment
04:45 What is a Magnetic Dipole Moment?
05:39 The magnetic field generated by a magnetic dipole moment
06:58 Effect of an external magnetic field on a magnetic dipole moment
07:59 Two solid definitions of a magnetic dipole moments
09:17 Magnetic Dipole Moments and the spin of an electron (improvised thoughts)

- - - - - - - - -
Correction in the video:
The formula for Biot-Savart Law presented at 5minutes 45seconds, is not in phase with the graphical representation. According to the graphic the r vector in the numerator has a magnitude, but in the formula it should be considered like a unit vector. Thus, to allign graphical representation with the formula, the formula should have r^3 in the denominator instead of r^2.

- - - - - - - - -
Prior knowledge required

In order to fully grasp the content of this video, the viewer needs to be familiar with the following concepts already presented in other PME videos.
_ What is a charge :    • What is Electric Charge? (Physics - E...  
_ What is a field :    • Electrostatic Physics, It's Magic!  
_ What is an electric field :    • What is an Electric Field? (Physics -...  
It would also be useful to know:
_ What is a flux :    • What is Flux? + an Introduction to Ga...  
_ What is a magnetic field :    • What is a Magnetic Field? (Electromag...  
- - - - - - - - -
Credits :
The script, the illustrations, the music and the video were produced and presented by Edouard Reny, Ph.D. in solid state chemistry and private tutor in Physical Sciences.
- - - - - - - - -
Need help with your high school physics ?:
Edouard provides one-on-one private tuition in Physics (face to face or by Skype). If you wish to know more about this, or contact Edouard, visit his website: https://www.physics-tutor.nl/ or this one (for French speakers : https://profdephysique.fr/.