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The nature of electromagnetic energy

General Physics 2025-05-16 v11

Abstract

We study the nature and location of electromagetic energy for two cases. The energy density for electromagnetic radiation is shown to be 18π(E2+B2)\frac{1}{8\pi}(E^2+B^2), with the energy contained in the electromagnet fields. For a static charge distribution, the electromagnet energy is contained in the charge, with an energy density, 12ρϕ\frac{1}{2}\rho\phi, There is no energy outside the charge distribution. The electromagnetic fields do not contain the energy, and 18π(E2+B2)\frac{1}{8\pi}(E^2+B^2) cannot be considered an energy density in this case. There is no ambiguity in either case as to where the energy is located.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0707.3421,
  title  = {The nature of electromagnetic energy},
  author = {Jerrold Franklin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0707.3421},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

The previous version had a number of mistakes, which are corrected in this version