Practice portal › Magnetism and Matter › Bar Magnet and Dipole in a Field

Inside a bar magnet, the magnetic field lines

Asked in GSEB Board July 2017 · Field of a bar magnet and earth's field

Answer: (4) are in direction from S pole to N pole

Step-by-step solution

Idea: magnetic field lines are always closed curves, because magnetic monopoles do not exist and so ∮⃗B· d⃗A=0 over any closed surface.

Outside a bar magnet the lines run from the N pole round to the S pole.

To close each loop they must run the opposite way inside the material: from the S pole to the N pole.

Inside the magnet, therefore, ⃗B points the same way as the magnetisation and the magnetic moment ⃗M, which is also S to N.

So the field lines inside a bar magnet are directed from the S pole to the N pole.

Why the other options are wrong

More Bar Magnet and Dipole in a Field questionsAll Bar Magnet and Dipole in a Field questions →

Reading this solution needs no sign-in. You only sign in to practise against the clock and keep your progress.

Practise this with a timer