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Electromagnetic induction: how the "flux rule'' has superseded Maxwell's general law

Classical Physics 2023-04-05 v1

Abstract

As documented by textbooks, the teaching of electromagnetic induction in university and high school courses is primarily based on what Feynman labeled as the ``flux rule'', downgrading it from the status of physical law. However, Maxwell derived a ``general law of electromagnetic induction'' in which the vector potential plays a fundamental role. A modern reformulation of Maxwell's law can be easily obtained by defining the induced electromotive force as l(E+vc×B)dl\oint_l (\vec E +\vec v_c\times \vec B)\cdot\vec{dl}, where vc\vec v_c is the velocity of the positive charges which, by convention, are the current carriers. Maxwell did not possess a model for the electric current. Therefore, in his law, he took vc\vec v_c to be the velocity of the circuit element containing the charges. This paper aims to show that the modern reformulation of Maxwell's law governs electromagnetic induction and that the ``flux rule'' is not a physical law but only a calculation shortcut that does not always yield the correct predictions. The paper also tries to understand why Maxwell's law has been ignored, and how the ``flux rule'' has taken root. Finally, a section is dedicated to teaching this modern reformulation of Maxwell's law in high schools and elementary physics courses.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2303.15296,
  title  = {Electromagnetic induction: how the "flux rule'' has superseded Maxwell's general law},
  author = {Giuseppe Giuliani},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2303.15296},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

Accepted for publication in the American Journal of Physics. 28 pages, 3 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2102.11036