What is magnetic energy? Where is it used?

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6 Answers

Steve Schafer, Coder, part-time physicist, birder

Answered Nov 15 2017 · Author has 5.7k answers and 3.9m answer views

Magnetic energy is potential energy that is stored in a magnetic field. In electronics, it is an important part of the operation of transformers and inductors. In transformers, magnetic energy is the conduit by which electrical power is transferred from the primary winding to the secondary winding(s), even though there is no direct electrical connection. In inductors, magnetic energy is stored temporarily in the magnetic field of the inductor, to be doled out at a later time (where “later time” may be mere nanoseconds later).

Magnetic energy is also part of the operation of electric motors, solenoid actuators, some kinds of circuit breakers, etc.

By the way, if you go online, you’ll find lots of discussions of “free” magnetic energy. That is pure, 100% nonsense.

3.3k Views · View Upvoters

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Jack Sullivan, Retired, widower, enjoys the sciences, sociology, philosophy

Answered Mar 13 2017 · Author has 4k answers and 1.5m answer views

Originally Answered: What is magnetic energy used for?

To call magnetism energy is up for debate in the scientific community, and is a topic for another discussion. Magnetism has an extremely wide range of applications and makes virtually all of the electronic technical devices we have today possible. All motors and generators use magnetism to either create mechanical movement or generate electricity. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines utilize powerful electromagnetic fields. The list of practical applications all across a wide range of industries is nearly limitless, depending only on imagination, and it is even speculated that magnetism maybe one day provide a source of inexhaustible, pollution-free energy.

1k Views · Answer requested by Maxwell Faison

Aaron Dahlen, MSEE from MSU, Mankato

Answered May 15 · Author has 762 answers and 624.5k answer views

It was 9th grade, the year I lettered in swimming, and the year I learned about energy storage in a magnetic field. It hit me like a bolt of lightning.

I remember presenting the transformer to the science class that day. A transformer passes AC but not DC. I had used a 9 VDC battery to show that DC would not pass through a transformer. Normally, transformers and 9 VDC batteries aren’t very interesting. However, transformers (a type of inductor) do store energy in a magnetic field.

I had connected the transformer to measure the DC current; a large current was measured on the secondary of the transformer. This current supported a large magnetic field in the transformer’s core.

And then it happened, as I disconnected the battery I got kicked by the stored energy.

You could think of this as energy in motion. As long as the DC current is flowing, a nice steady magnetic field is maintained - energy is stored in this magnetic field. When I disconnected the battery, this energy in motion had to go somewhere. ZAP, through me it went.

Later I learned that inductors “like” to keep current constant. When I connected that battery there was a certain current. When I disconnected the battery, the current remained the same. Think about that. The disconnected battery is an open circuit. In order to keep current constant the voltage goes sky high.

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Like it or not, this energy storage is with us in every transformer and motor. As you study electronics you will learn about ELI the ICE man. The first term tells us that voltage leads current in an inductive circuit. This makes AC circuits, especially motors, problematic. You can get a flavor for this problem by reading about Power factor - Wikipedia.

Regards,

APDahlen

1.1k Views · View Upvoters

Ken Goudsward, studied Musicology & Physics at Vancouver Island University (1993)

Answered Mar 13 2017

Originally Answered: What is magnetic energy used for?

Well for one thing, magnets are used in electric motors.

See How Electric Motors Work

also, if you reverse this principle, you get electric generators, which provide most of our electricity (not solar, or batteries though, those use different principles).

1.7k Views

Marty Green, Former "all-but-thesis" PhD student in physics at U of Manitoba.

Answered Mar 14 2017 · Author has 190 answers and 163.9k answer views

Originally Answered: What is magnetic energy used for?

Magnetism is an integral part of the workings of all kinds of electro/mechanical devices and systems, but the question asks about “magnetic ENERGY”; and the most commonplace application is the ignition spark in any gas-powered engine. The battery charges up a coil with magnetic energy; when the charging circuit is interrupted, that energy is immediatley delivered to the spark.

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Aftab Sani, B.Sc from Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (2017)

Answered Nov 15 2017

A magnet attract or repel any magnetic type particle. This happens because of energy. Lots of magnetic flux goes from the north pole to the south pole of a magnet. This flux is the main reason of attracting or repeling. The more density of flux the more the power of repeling or attracting.

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