Question about how deep you need to know Magnetism for electronics?

Thread Starter

tony8404

Joined Jun 11, 2008
98
Well, I just started to take reading the Neets module 1 seriously now. I would like to put the rest of my night into it and going forward for now on. I would like to know if reading the neets module will be good enough.
Especially, since I thought, I knew a good deal about magnetism, except once I saw some of the thread titles; I am beginning to question if, reading all of the neets modules, will provide enough learning or touching base on each category? Enough to be able to know what I am talking about? Should I take a different route maybe?
 

Paulo540

Joined Nov 23, 2009
191
The more books you read from different sources the better. Some authors will connect with you and some won't. I have perused several of the NEETs and like the way they provide explanations and information. They seem to be made for entry level students in the field but you will still come away with a really nice foundation of knowledge. To me the basics are the most important thing to get right because you will always be going back to them.
 

Thread Starter

tony8404

Joined Jun 11, 2008
98
My main problem is laziness, I need to do it at my own pace but lack the discipline. The night school i went to was to fast pace and did not touch enough on stuff.
 

steveb

Joined Jul 3, 2008
2,436
My main problem is laziness,
If a person walks up to a cliff-face and doesn't climb it, it may be that he is lazy, or afraid of heights. Or, perhaps he does not yet have the equipment and training to do it. Perhaps he then resolves to make the attempt, but first he must leave to learn and train and equip himself, to be ready once he returns.

This is a difficult subject to learn, and the approach you take depends on your background. If you are at University level, then learning vector calculus and Maxwell's equations in vector form, is the best approach. Although, these seems very complex when you are not ready for it, once you have the proper foundation, this makes things much easier. Maxwell's equations are 4 simple relations that say very simple things, but summarize all known experimental information about classical (macroscopic) EM fields. This includes, electric fields, magnetic fields, and the interactions between the two.

If you don't have the mathematical foundations, then the subject can be approached from an intuitive and visual point of view. A key thing about electromagnetics is that only very simple (symmetrical geometry) cases can be solved mathematically, so it's more important to have an intuitive understanding, and computers, with finite element programs, can be used to do the actual calculations. Try to understand what the 4 Maxwell equations (2 forms of Gauss's Law, Ampere's Law and Faraday's Law) are really saying from a physical point of view.

I expect that there is modern information you can draw on, but you can also go back to the "Masters". If you are mathematically inclined, James Clerk Maxwell's original "Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism" is freely available online. If you are more visually and intuitively inclined, Michael Faraday's original "Experimental Researches in Electricity" and other writing, such as "Six Lectures on Forces of Nature" are freely available. I don't recommend either of these as a first step, but eventually, if you are serious, at least one of these will be worth your time. If you go back to Faraday, remember that Maxwell made one substantial discovery beyond his predecessors. He conceived of the displacement current modification to Ampere's Law, which then enabled him to mathematically show that EM fields can support waves and that these waves travel at the speed of light. Hence, he discovered that light was electromagnetic in nature. For this contribution we call the EM equations Maxwell's Equations, even though he only contributed one term to 1 of the 4 known equations. There's a case where it paid to be last.

The key point here is that all the complexity of electromagnetics can be summarized by the simple ideas of 4 equations. If you can focus your mind to visualize the physics contained in those, you will be far ahead of most electrical engineers in understanding.
 
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Thread Starter

tony8404

Joined Jun 11, 2008
98
Wow, Steveb, thank you for the reply to my thread. You gave me some good info in there that i will be taking a look at some of the leads you gave me.

I am just worried that here, i am reading the neets books thinking i know my stuff but then i come across something that was not touched on in the neets modules and i feel like i did not learn a thing then. I then feel i have to start all over again either with another book or i had forgotten something already.

I just feel i want to know all i can about a certain part or categor of electronics before moving on. Rather then touching on it, moving forward to the next and then find out that what i thought was 100% really was only 5% of the big picture. Then again maybe this is how your supposed to learn electronics, touching base on something to get familiar with and then once you got that, you go into it deeper? Not sure, though, no one has yet recommended the correct way if that is even possible lol.

I just feel that if i am trying to learn magnetism, then i want to learn magnetism. Not just a piece now and then later get a little more of a piece. grrr now i do not know how to explain myself hehehe
 
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