I've looked through about 20 different explanations, from the most basic to the most complex, and yet I still dont understand this basic concept. Perhaps someone can help me.
I dont understand the difference between the electric and magnetic force components in electromagnetism.
I understand that an electric field is created by electrons and protons. This force is attractive to particles carrying opposite charge and repulsive to like-charge particles.
So then you get moving electrons and all of a sudden you have a "magnetic" field. I understand that the concept of a magnetic field is only relative to your frame of reference,
but there's no ACTUAL inherent magnetic force created, is there?
Isnt magnetism just a term we use to refer to the outcomes we observe when you take a regular electric field and move it relative to some object?
Electrons tend to be in states where their net charge is offset by an equivalent number of protons, thus there is no observable net charge on nearby bodies. If an electron current is moving through a wire, would this create fluctuating degrees of local net charge? If that's the case, is magnetism just what happens when electron movement creates a net charge that has an impact on other objects? If this is correct, does magnetism always involve a net charge created by electron movement?
If my statement in #2 is true, then what exactly are the observable differences between an electric field and a magnetic field? Assuming #3 is correct, then the net positive or negative force created would be attractive or repulsive to magnets because they have localized net charges in their poles, correct? Whereas a standard electric field doesnt imply a net force, and thus it wouldnt be attractive or repulsive? A magnetic field would also be attractive or repulsive to some metals because of the special freedom of movement that their electrons have?
If i could take any object with a net charge, (i.e. a magnet), even if it's sitting still and not moving, isnt that an example of a magnetic field?
I just generally dont understand why moving electrons create magnetism (unless i was correct in my net charge hypothesis) and i dont understand the exact difference between electrostatic and magnetic fields.