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Veritasium
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These resources have been reviewed and selected by STEM Learning’s team of education specialists for factual accuracy and relevance to teaching STEM subjects in UK schools.
How special relativity makes magnets work
This video shows how electromagnetism can be explained using either models of magnetism or of electric fields, induced by length contraction caused by special relativity. Length contraction (Lorentz contraction) occurs to anything that is moving – relative to something moving slower. The explanation shows how moving positive charges in a wire caused by current, experience length contraction, creating a higher positive density. This repels another positive charge. So, whether the explanation uses a simple magnetic field idea or special relativity (electric field), the outcome is the same.
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