A magnetic dipole is the limit of either a closed loop of electric current or a pair of poles as the dimensions of the source are reduced to zero while keeping the magnetic moment constant. It is a magnetic analogue of the electric dipole, but the analogy is not complete. In particular, a magnetic monopole, the magnetic analogue of an electric charge, has never been observed. Moreover, one form of magnetic dipole moment is associated with a fundamental quantum property, the spin of elementary particles.
The magnetic field around any magnetic source looks increasingly like the field of a magnetic dipole as the distance from the source increases.
Read more about Magnetic Dipole: External Magnetic Field Produced By A Magnetic Dipole Moment, Internal Magnetic Field of A Dipole, Forces Between Two Magnetic Dipoles, Dipolar Fields From Finite Sources
Famous quotes containing the word magnetic:
“We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)