| In general, any sort of **flux is how much of something goes through an area**. For example, we could think of a child's bubble wand in terms of the air flux (from you blowing) through the circle (with the bubble solution in it). If you wanted to make bigger bubbles or make many more bubbles, you could do two things: increase the air flow or get a bubble wand with a bigger circle. Both of these actions (increasing the area and increasing the amount of air) will result in a larger "air flux" through the bubble wand. It's probably worth mentioning that we have assumed that you are holding the bubble wand so the circle is perpendicular to the air flow. If instead you rotate the wand 90 degrees, you will not get any bubbles since there is no air that is actually going through the circle part of the bubble wand. So the air flux not only depends on the amount of air and the area of circle, but also on how those two are oriented relative to each other. The idea of flux can be useful in many different contexts (i.e. fluids, electricity, air, etc.), but for any kind of flux, these are still the three conditions that matter: (1) the strength/amount, (2) the area, and (3) the orientation. | In general, any sort of **flux is how much of something goes through an area**. For example, we could think of a child's bubble wand in terms of the air flux (from you blowing) through the circle (with the bubble solution in it). If you wanted to make bigger bubbles or make many more bubbles, you could do two things: increase the air flow or get a bubble wand with a bigger circle. Both of these actions (increasing the area and increasing the amount of air) will result in a larger "air flux" through the bubble wand. It's probably worth mentioning that we have assumed that you are holding the bubble wand so the circle is perpendicular to the air flow. If instead you rotate the wand 90 degrees, you will not get any bubbles since there is no air that is actually going through the circle part of the bubble wand. So the air flux not only depends on the amount of air and the area of circle, but also on how those two are oriented relative to each other. The idea of flux can be useful in many different contexts (i.e. fluids, electricity, air, etc.), but for any kind of flux, these are still the three conditions that matter: (1) the strength/amount, (2) the area, and (3) the orientation. |
| **Magnetic flux** then is the strength of the magnetic field on a surface area or rather the amount of the magnetic field that goes through an area. For magnetic flux, we need to consider: the strength of the magnetic field, the area that the field goes through, and the orientation of the magnetic field relative to the area. These notes will introduce the mathematics behind magnetic flux, which we will use in Faraday's Law. | Therefore **magnetic flux is the strength of the magnetic field on a surface area or rather the amount of the magnetic field that goes through an area.** For magnetic flux, we need to consider: the strength of the magnetic field, the area that the field goes through, and the orientation of the magnetic field relative to the area. These notes will introduce the mathematics behind magnetic flux, which we will use in Faraday's Law. |