Maxwell's equations, or Maxwell–Heaviside equations, are a set of coupled partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electromagnetism, classical optics, electric and magnetic circuits.
The equations provide a mathematical model for electric, optical, and radio technologies, such as power generation, electric motors, wireless communication, lenses, radar, etc. They describe how electric and magnetic fields are generated by charges, currents, and changes of the fields. The equations are named after the physicist and mathematician James Clerk Maxwell, who, in 1861 and 1862, published an early form of the equations that included the Lorentz force law. Maxwell first used the equations to propose that light is an electromagnetic phenomenon. The modern form of the equations in their most common formulation is credited to Oliver Heaviside.
Maxwell's equations on a plaque on his statue in Edinburgh
In a geomagnetic storm, solar wind plasma impacts Earth's magnetic field causing a time-dependent change in the field, thus inducing electric fields in Earth's atmosphere and conductive lithosphere which can destabilize power grids. (Not to scale.)
Magnetic-core memory (1954) is an application of Ampère's law. Each core stores one bit of data.
In physics, specifically in electromagnetism, the Lorentz force is the combination of electric and magnetic force on a point charge due to electromagnetic fields. A particle of charge q moving with a velocity v in an electric field E and a magnetic field B experiences a force of
Beam of electrons moving in a circle, due to the presence of a magnetic field. Purple light revealing the electron's path in this Teltron tube is created by the electrons colliding with gas molecules.
Lorentz force -image on a wall in Leiden
