Electricity and Magnetism: Magnetic Fields and Forces

Electricity and Magnetism dominate much of the world around us – from the most fundamental processes in nature to cutting edge electronic devices. Electric and magnet fields arise from charged particles. Charged particles also feel forces in electric and magnetic fields. Maxwell’s equations, in addition to describing this behavior, also describes electromagnetic radiation.

In this course, we focus on magnetic fields and forces on charged particles in magnetic fields. We examine different ways of calculating the magnetic field, as well as introducing the ideas of current, resistance and simple direct current (DC) circuits.

This is the second module in a series of three that are based on the MIT course: 8.02, Electricity and Magnetism, a required introductory physics class for all MIT undergraduates, which is being offered as an XSeries. Please visit to learn Introductory Electricity and Magnetism XSeries Program Page for more information and to enroll in all three modules.

This introductory Electromagnetism physics course will require the use of calculus.