Magnetic Shielding: A Demonstration and Experimental Realization

Action of electric and magnetic fields and their interaction effects are the basis of operation of every electrical and electronic instrument. But such action fields could also cause serious problems to the functioning of those instruments if they act on them unnecessarily, to the extreme, failure of the system may also occur. To avoid such unpleasant consequences arising out of unwanted electromagnetic interferences, in recent days, many modern magnetic systems employ magnetic shielding for their safety and security. For the people of scientific pedagogy associated with magnetic systems, deep understanding of the concept of magnetic shielding not only increases their domain knowledge and also will strongly aid them for the effective implementation of protected new magnetic systems. Literature survey reveals that not many sources available for the demonstration of the concept of magnetic shielding coupled with an experiment. Hence, this work is attempted. The objective of this paper is to illustrate the concept of magnetic shielding by way of a simple demonstration and its experimental realization for the benefit of scientific pedagogy in teaching-learning process. In brief, magnetic shielding is a process of restraining the entry of magnetic flux lines from reaching a specific point or region. This is normally achieved by re-routing the magnetic flux, suitably establishing an alternate path for it as the stoppage of magnetic flux lines is limited by Maxwells equation. This article describes a simple procedure to demonstrate magnetic shielding and its experimental realization. Inclusion of photographs of the experimental set-up used in our laboratory for the demonstration of magnetic shielding provides a better tool for teaching and learning process. This article is prepared with a view to effectively communicate the concept of magnetic shielding in an efficient way for the curious learners of magnetism. The article also helps scientific pedagogy to grasp the concept of magnetic shielding graphically.