A magnetic dipole is the limit of either a closed loop of electric current or a pair of poles as the size of the source is reduced to zero while keeping the magnetic moment constant.
Magnetic dipole, generally a tiny magnet of microscopic to subatomic dimensions, equivalent to a flow of electric charge around a loop. Electrons circulating around atomic nuclei, electrons spinning on their axes, and rotating positively charged atomic nuclei all are magnetic dipoles.
The sum of these effects may cancel so that a given type of atom may not be a magnetic dipole. If they do not fully cancel, the atom is a permanent magnetic dipole, as are iron atoms. Many millions of iron atoms spontaneously locked into the same alignment to form a ferromagnetic domain also constitute a magnetic dipole. Magnetic compass needles and bar magnets are examples of macroscopic magnetic dipoles.
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Answer:
A magnetic dipole is the limit of either a closed loop of electric current or a pair of poles as the size of the source is reduced to zero while keeping the magnetic moment constant.
Magnetic dipole, generally a tiny magnet of microscopic to subatomic dimensions, equivalent to a flow of electric charge around a loop. Electrons circulating around atomic nuclei, electrons spinning on their axes, and rotating positively charged atomic nuclei all are magnetic dipoles.
The sum of these effects may cancel so that a given type of atom may not be a magnetic dipole. If they do not fully cancel, the atom is a permanent magnetic dipole, as are iron atoms. Many millions of iron atoms spontaneously locked into the same alignment to form a ferromagnetic domain also constitute a magnetic dipole. Magnetic compass needles and bar magnets are examples of macroscopic magnetic dipoles.
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