Magnetic Moment

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The magnetic moment is a defined quantity describing the magnetic field produce by current flowing through a loop of conductor:

μ=current*area_of_loop

since current is given in amperes and area in square meters the units of magnetic moment are Am2. Unfortunately, as in many fields these units are altered and renamed based on the application. This just causes confusion so the practice should be abolished, but until wiser heads prevail, here are some of the alternate units that magnetic moments are often expressed in:

  • joule/Tesla -used commonly in the physics literature (kgm2/s2)/(kg/As2)=Am2

Since current is related to the electric charge the magnetic moment can be used to describe charges as well.

There are other definitions for magnetic moment, but the units end up being Am2 so it is probably best to think of this definition when using magnetic moments.