Magnetism is the force that arises from moving electric charges and from the spin angular momentum (aka intrinsic spin) of quantum particles (e.g., electrons). Articles here cover magnetic fields, magnetic dipole moments, and how materials become magnets.
In quantum mechanics, spin angular momentum (S) is a vector: It has both a length and a direction. However, due to quantum uncertainty, we can never know the exact direction that a quantum vector points. We can know only two things at once about S: its magnitude (S) and its component along one chosen axis,…
The Historical Assumption About Electron Spin Electron spin” implies that an electron really spins. Well, does it? Let us go back in time to answer that question. Scientists (e.g., James Clerk Maxwell, Henry Rowland) in the latter part of the 19th century knew that if they physically spun a charged ball, their action would create…
Magnetism is a physical phenomenon that happens when materials exert attractive or repulsive forces on other materials. Electron spins and the motion of electric charges cause these forces. Magnetism is the broad category for all types of magnetic behavior. Ferromagnetism is one of those types. A ferromagnetic material attracts strongly to magnets. You can magnetize…