Re: Bruce's TPU Theory and Experiments - understanding field lines

[MileHigh]

Magregus:

Those field lines from the magnetic diagrams are completely wrong.

In fact they are correct and you can easily observe the field lines yourself to confirm it.

MasterPlaster:

One thing that always bothers me about any graphical representation of magnetic fields is that they are shown as a two dimensional effect.

MAGNETIC FIELDS ARE 3 DIMENSIONAL.

Also there is no such thing as lines of magnetic force and even if there were, they do not follow a straight line.

Once every one clears their mind of garbage then new thinking can begin.

Yes indeed they are three-dimensional.  I am sure if you looked a little bit you could find a 3D Java or Flash applet that shows this.  However, it's good to exercise your brain and make the effort to do the 3D visualization in your head.

Lines of magnetic force do really exist in the sense that you can "connect the dots" of the force vectors in 3D space using the power of your imagination to visualize what is going on.  By the same token there is no North pole or South pole in a magnetic field but it is convenient to use these terms when discussing a bar magnet.

Once you get up the learning curve and master the basics then your thinking gets clearer for understanding more advanced concepts.

MileHigh

[allcanadian]

@MH

In fact they are correct and you can easily observe the field lines yourself to confirm it.

No, in fact they are not correct and are an artifact of people reading outdated textbooks from the 1920's instead of proving the matter for themselves. The picture below is a true representation of the field gradient and was taken from this website, http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/v4/n5/covers/largecover.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.nature.com/nphys/journal/v4/n5/covers/index.html&usg=__CC5zAf9tMp8lyQIozpVNzLkL7qI=&h=577&w=440&sz=91&hl=en&start=32&zoom=1&tbnid=koSW6CvVHf4zRM:&tbnh=134&tbnw=102&ei=HmUbUtKwBaTl4AP6rYAY&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dvisualization%2Bmagnetic%2Bfield%26start%3D20%26um%3D1%26sa%3DN%26hl%3Den%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&sa=X&ved=0CEEQrQMwCzgU.

On a note of interest I knew this many years ago and mapped the magnetic field gradient with a hall effect sensor for myself after reading the research of Howard Johnson. It is also interesting to note that the field gradient as we know follows the inverse square law as such the greatest field density is in close proximity to the source polar regions. So why do the largest regions of greatest field density at the poles curl back into itself and not the opposite pole as you have suggested?. I will give you a little hint, every first year physics student knows the answer I just want to know if you do.

AC

[MileHigh]

Well the iron filings don't lie.  Nice pseudo coloring where it looks like the pseudo coloring wraps around as the intensity increases.  John Lennon's glasses from 1967?  lol Don't know the answer.

[Magregus]

Well the iron filings don't lie.  Nice pseudo coloring where it looks like the pseudo coloring wraps around as the intensity increases.  John Lennon's glasses from 1967?  lol Don't know the answer.

Facepalm! The iron filings are being attracted to the poles on the magnet, they are NOT showing where the fields are going.

[MileHigh]

What poles?  There are no true poles!