Electric and Magnetic Fields

Electromagnetic waves change electric and magnetic fields.

An electric field surrounds every type of charged object. This electric field pulls oppositely charged objects toward the object that is surrounded by the electric field and repels like-charged objects.

A magnetic field surrounds every type of magnet. Due to magnetic fields objects are attracted to magnets. When two magnets come in contact with each other, you can feel the effect of magnetic fields.

Electric field is defined as the electric force per unit charge. The direction of the field is taken to be the direction of the force it would exert on a positive test charge. The electric field is radially outward from a positive charge and radially in toward a negative point charge.

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/elefie.html

A magnetic field is the magnetic effect of electric currents and magnetic materials. The magnetic field at any given point is specified by both a direction and a magnitude (or strength); as such it is a vector field.

Magnetic fields can be produced by moving electric charges and the intrinsic magnetic moments of elementary particles associated with a fundamental quantum property, their spin. In special relativity, electric and magnetic fields are two interrelated aspects of a single object, called the electromagnetic tensor; the split of this tensor into electric and magnetic fields depends on the relative velocity of the observer and charge. In quantum physics, the electromagnetic field is quantized and electromagnetic interactions result from the exchange of photons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_field

Ryann Cornelius