How Special Relativity Makes Magnets Work

Veritasium · 4M views · 2013-09-23 · 4:19

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Overview

Veritasium explains magnetism as a consequence of special relativity. Length contraction of moving charges makes a current in a wire attract or repel a nearby moving charge.

On Hacker News

HN commenters recommend it as a short, clear explanation of why moving charges create magnetic fields.

Recommended by 7 HN people across 7 months · HN mentions 2014–2024

Topics

Fundamental physics

What people said

amelius · 2024-08 · Recommendation
I think what GP meant is that (from one viewpoint) magnetism is an emergent property of the electric field and relativity. Here is a simple explanation: [VIDEO]
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lugoues · 2024-06 · Recommendation
Sort of, electricity and magnetism are two sides of the same coin, electromagnetism, so it's waves in the electromagnetic field with the wire acting as a wave guide. (as far as I understand) Veritasium has a video that goes over this. It was pretty controversial at release but it gives a good overview. [LINK] And why magnets work due to relativity [VIDEO]
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programmer_dude · 2021-09 · Recommendation
Wow, this is the first time I have understood why nothing can go faster than the speed of light and why time dilation is a thing. A very easy to read article, give it a try. Also if you are curious why a moving charge creates a magnetic field watch this Veritasium video: [VIDEO]
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Sources

Video by Veritasium, played through YouTube.

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