Magnetic Fields Round a Solenoid

This picture, entitled Magnetic Field of the Solenoid, illustrates the magnitude and direction of magnetic field lines around a solenoid.  A solenoid is a loop of wire that encircles a charge-carrying core, usually metal, and acts as a magnet when electricity travels through it.  The researchers approximated the magnetic field in the image by using the superposition of two-dimensional point sources using the Biot-Savart Law. 

This image was submitted as part of the 2007 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge, an effort jointly administered by the National Science Foundation and the journal Science.  Winners from the SciViz challenges can be seen at: http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/scivis/index.jsp.

Credit: Paul Nylander, University of California, Irvine