THE
LONDON, EDINBURGH AND DUBLIN
PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE
AND
JOURNAL OF SCIENCE.
______
[FOURTH SERIES.]
MARCH 1861.
XXV. On Physical Lines of Force. By J. C. Maxwell, Professor of Natural Philosophy in King's College, London[1].
Part I.—The Theory of Molecular Vortices applied to Magnetic Phenomena.
IN all phenomena involving attractions or repulsions, or any forces depending on the relative position of bodies, we have to determine the magnitude and direction of the force which would act on a given body, if placed in a given position.
In the case of a body acted on by the gravitation of a sphere, this force is inversely as the square of the distance, and in a straight line to the centre of the sphere. In the case of two attracting spheres, or of a body not spherical, the magnitude and direction of the force vary according to more complicated laws. In electric and magnetic phenomena, the magnitude and direction of the resultant force at any point is the main subject of investigation. Suppose that the direction of the force at any point is known, then, if we draw a line so that in every part of its course it coincides in direction with the force at that point, this line may be called a line of force, since it indicates the direction of the force in every part of its course.
By drawing a sufficient number of lines of force, we may indicate the direction of the force in every part of the space in which it acts.
Thus if we strew iron filings on paper near a magnet, each filing will be magnetized by induction, and the consecutive filings will unite by their opposite poles, so as to form fibres, and these fibres will indicate the direction of the lines of force. The beautiful illustration of the presence of magnetic force afforded by this experiment, naturally tends to make us think of
- ↑ Communicated by the Author.
