Maxwell's derivation of the Lorentz force from Faraday's law
Abstract
In a brief but brilliant derivation that can be found in Maxwell's Treatise and traced back to his 1861 and 1865 papers, he derives the force on a moving electric charge subject to electromagnetic fields from his mathematical expression of Faraday's law for a moving circuit. Maxwell's derivation in his Treatise of this force, which is usually referred to today as the Lorentz force, is given in detail in the present paper using Maxwell's same procedure but with more modern notation.
0
Turn this paper into a full lesson
ArcXiv compiles a staged curriculum from this paper: 8-12 lessons across beginner → advanced, synthesised section guides, visuals, flashcards, a quiz, exercises, and on-demand deep dives per section. Grounded in the abstract, never invented.