Esmeralda Lane

2022-07-14

Magnetic force storage or amplification question
all forms of energy can be stored or amplified for example : capacitor , hydraulics ,laser , pulley , etc..
what is the equivalent to that for magnetic force ? can magnets be connected in series or parallel ?

Sanaa Hinton

Expert

A capacitor, as you pointed out, its a device capable of storing electrostatic energy. The energy is stored in the electric field formed by the capacitor, usually between the plates. As you said, you can put capacitors in series, and in parallel, forming an equivalent circuit with an equivalent overall capacitance. The stored electrostatic energy can be calculated, and the voltage of the capacitor can be calculated as well:
$U=\frac{1}{2}\frac{{Q}^{2}}{C},\phantom{\rule{1em}{0ex}}\phantom{\rule{1em}{0ex}}V=\frac{Q}{C}$
The magnetic equivalent of this, is an inductor. Its a device capable of storing magnetic energy. Same way as the capacitor, the energy is stored in the magnetic field formed by the inductor. The inductor has inductance $L$. You can put inductors in series and parallel, and the equivalent circuit will have an equivalent inductance. The magnetic energy stored can be calculated, so as its voltage:
$U=\frac{1}{2}L{I}^{2},\phantom{\rule{1em}{0ex}}\phantom{\rule{1em}{0ex}}V=-L\frac{dI}{dt}$

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