EECS 117

Lecture 15: Biot-Savart Law,

Amperes Law and Magnetic Dipole
University of California, Berkeley
Biot Savart Law and Amperes Law
In the last lecture, we have shown that the magnetic force
exerted on a small segment of wire flowing a current I with
length dl is equal to
where B is the magnetic flux density, and . The H is
called the and is the permeability of the medium, which is the
medium properties just like .
The magnetic field intensity H induced by a current carrying wire
segment has been shown to be
B l Id dF
m
=
r
H B =
dv
r r
r r r J
r r
r r l d r I
r H d
3 3
' 4
) ' ( ) ' (
' 4
) ' ( ) ' (
) (
r r
r r
r
r r
r r
r

=

Biot Savart Law and Amperes Law (cont.)
is a vector pointing towards the point of interest from the
origin, and is a vector towards the wire segment. The second
expression is for a non-uniform current distribution in the
magnetic field generating system (like a wire).
Amperes circuital law states that the magnetic field intensity
integrated along a closed path is equal to the current flowing
through the surface enclosed by the path.
r
r
' r
r
I l d H =

r
r
Off-axis Magnetic Field of a Straight Wire
Consider a segment of a straight wire of
length 2a. Using Biot-Savart Law, the
magnetic flux density due to a small segment
dl is given by
The B vector is pointing into the paper.
) ) ' ( ( 4
sin

' 4
) ' (

) ' , , (
2 2
0
3
0
z z r
dz I
r r
r r z Id
z r B d
+
=

r r
r r r
(r,,z)
a
-a
z
' r r
r r

y
r
r
I

(
(

+ +
+
=
+

=
+
=
+
=

2 2 2 2
0
2 / 1 2 2 2
0
2 / 3 2 2
0
2 2
0
) ' (
'
) ' (
'
4 ) ) ' ( ( 4
) ' (
) ) ' ( ( 4

) ) ' ( ( 4
sin

) ' , , (
a z r
a z
a z r
a z
r
I
z z r r
z z Ir
z z r
Irdz
z z r
dz I
z r B
a
a
a
a
a
a

On-axis Magnetic Field of a Straight Wire
If the point of interest is at the midpoint of the wire, z = 0, and
2 2
0
2

a r r
Ia
B
+
=

On-axis Magnetic Field of a Circular Loop

Consider now the magnetic
field along the axis of a circular
loop wire.
The green segment induces a
magnetic field in green.
Because of circular symmetry,
the segment (red) on the
opposite side create a field (red)
of equal magnitude. The
resultant field is along the z-
axis.
y
z
x
(0,0,z)
I
a
R
r
On-axis Magnetic Field of a Circular Loop
2 / 3 2 2
2
0
2
0
2 / 3 2 2
2
0
2 / 3 2 2
2
0
2 / 3 2 2
0
2
0
) ( 2

) ( 4

) ( 4 ) ( 4
4

) ' , 0 , 0 (
z a
a I
k d
z a
a I
k B
z a
d a I
z a
adl I
dB
R
R l Id
z B d
z
+
=
+
=
+
=
+
=

r
r
r
k
a
I
B

2
0

=
r
At the center of the loop,
On-axis Magnetic Field of a Solenoid
z
-l
l
Using the result above, we can calculate the on-axis
magnetic field inside the solenoid
Consider a solenoid with n number of windings per
meter. The length of the solenoid is 2l.
2 2
0
2 2 2
2
0
2 / 3 2 2
2
0
2 / 3 2 2
2
0
2 ) ( 2
) ( 2
l a
NI
z a a
z nIa
z a
dz nIa
B
z a
dz a nI
dB
l
l
l
l
z
z
+
=
+
=
+
=
+
=

On-axis Magnetic Field of a Solenoid (cont.)

where N = 2nl, the total number of windings in the
solenoid.
For an infinitely long solenoid,
nI B
z 0
=
Amperes Circuital Law Version of a Solenoid
A
B
C
D
C
D
l
B
r
The cross
section of the
solenoid.
We can obtain the same information, and even learn more by
using the Amperes circuital law.
The line integral of the B can be broken into the segment parts

+ + + =
DA CD BC AB
dl B
r
Solenoid (Amperes Circuital Law)
Based on the result we obtained in the previous calculation, inside
the solenoid is only in the z direction. The geometry implies that this
would be true also for the magnetic field outside the solenoid. So,
If we consider the path ABCD, the path integrals along BC and
DA are zero because of the above reason. Because there is not current
flowing through the area enclosed by the closed path,
This result holds if the hypothetical box ABCD is drawn such that
the segment CD is at infinity. This implies that the magnetic field is
uniform everywhere outside the solenoid. This contradicts our intuition
of a field falling down to zero at infinity and also experimental
observation.

=
' 'D C AB
B
0 = =

DA BC
r
Solenoid (Amperes Circuital Law)
The only solution to this contradiction is that the magnetic field
outside of solenoid is zero. This coincides with experimental results.
The result is:
If the segment CD is far away from the ends of the solenoid, B is
uniform along the segment. Thus,
This result is the same as the one for the infinite solenoid.
If we move the segment CD up and down, since the current enclosed
remains the same, the path integral along CD is the same. So the
magnetic field is uniform inside the solenoid. For an infinite solenoid
or the region where end effects are negligible, the field everywhere
inside the solenoid is equal to the above result.
nlI l d B l d B
CD
0
= =

r r r r
nI B nlI Bl l d B
CD
0 0
= = =

r r
Vector Potential
Since there is no magnetic monopole , can be
expressed as , the curl of vector potential.
For the two different expressions of B, we have
0 = B
r
B
r
A
v




=

= dv
r r
r r r J
r r
r r l d r I
r B
3 3
'
) ' ( ) ' (
4
'
) ' ( ) ' (
4
) (
r r
r r
r
r r
r r
r

= dv
r r
r J
r r
l d r I
r A
2 2
'
) ' (
4
'
) ' (
4
) (
r r
r
r r
r

Magnetic Dipole
x
z
(r,0,)
a

r

Top view
x
R
For a current loop, the magnetic field off axis can be calculated
by finding vector potential.
Magnetic Dipole
The vector potential due to the green segment has a direction of
the green arrow. Because of symmetry, the potential due to the
red segment almost cancel the green vector potential and the
resultant potential due to these two segments has a direction
normal to the xz plane, or in general in direction. Without loss
of generality, we place the point of interest in the xz plane.
The component of A due to a segment is equal to
The total is found as the integral around the loop

R
Idl
dA

4
' cos '
=

= =

2
0
' ' cos
4 4
' cos '
R
d Ia
R
Idl
A
Magnetic Dipole
where
For r >> a
or
The total vector potential is
are then equal to
2 cos 2
2 2 2 2 2
+ = + = a r ra a r R ' cos sin ra
' cos sin 2 1
r
a
r R |
.
|

\
|
+ ' cos sin 1
1 1

r
a
r R
( )
2
2
2
0
2
4
sin
' ' cos sin ' cos
4 r
a I
d
r
a Ia
A

=
|
.
|

\
|
+ =
B
r
( ) ( )

sin
sin

= = rA
r r
A
r
r
A B
r
( )
| |

sin

cos

2
3
2
+ = r
r
a I
Magnetic Dipole
The magnitude of the magnetic dipole moment, the counterpart
of electric dipole, is defined as
The dipole direction is pointing up from the loop for the counter-
clockwise I direction (as in this case), and vice versa.
The vector potential can then be expressed as
2
a I m =
|
.
|

\
|
=
r
m A
1
4
0
r
r