|
Hi! I know that Faraday cages are good at
blocking electromagnetic radiation and such, but
can they also block magnetic fields? Thanks for
your help.
|
Question Date: 2008-11-12 | | Answer 1:
It depends on the "quality" of the Faraday
cage, and whether the magnetic field is constant
or varying. The ideal Faraday cage is a
superconductor, and it blocks external magnetic
fields by creating electrical currents on its
outer surface which redirect the magnetic fields
so they basically don't penetrate. Normal
conductors aren't so good at blocking magnetic
fields by the same technique, because normal
conductors are electrically lossy: they can't
maintain current flow. Instead, to block magnetic
fields, people often use a material similar to
mu-metal, which is a specially annealed
cobalt-iron alloy which is very good at
"collecting" magnetic field lines. The magnetic
fields are concentrated within the mu-metal; the
field lines are along the mu-metal rather than
penetrating through it as they would most other
materials. At high frequencies, like used in
microwaves or cell phones, normal conductors work
well for a Faraday cage. The fluctuating magnetic
field generates a temporary electric field in the
conductor, and the flow of electricity creates an
opposing magnetic field. This is the same
principle as in the case of superconductors
mentioned above, but the current is short-lived so
lossy conductors are okay. | | Answer 2:
Good question. I had to do a bit of research on
the topic because it is not my field of expertise.
But I did find the following Wikipedia excerpt
that speaks directly to your question:"To a large
degree, Faraday cages also shield the interior
from external electromagnetic radiation if the
conductor is thick enough and any holes are
significantly smaller than the radiation's
wavelength. For example, certain computer forensic
test procedures of electronic components or
systems that require an environment devoid of
electromagnetic interference may be conducted
within a so-called screen room. These screen rooms
are essentially labs or work areas that are
completely enclosed by one or more layers of fine
metal mesh or perforated sheet metal. The metal
layers are connected to earth ground to dissipate
any electric currents generated from the external
electromagnetic fields, and thus block a large
amount of the electromagnetic
interference." That's from Faraday_cage
where there's a lot more useful information about
Faraday cages. | | Answer 3:
Good question - I'm not entirely sure, although
I would guess the answer to be "no", since the
reason why the cage blocks radiation is that the
radiation stimulates an electric current in the
cage itself, thereby dumping its energy into the
cage and not what is inside of it. I might think
that if the cage were not only composed of an
electrically conductive material, but a magnetic
material as well, then it might affect magnetic
fields, but that might amplify them rather than
absorb them. Here is an experiment that you
could do to find out: get yourself a large, thin
sheet of a magnetic metal (e.g. steel). Attach a
magnet to one side of the sheet. Put a movable
piece of magnetic metal on the other side of the
sheet. If the movable piece of metal is attracted
to the magnet, then the magnetic field is
penetrating the sheet, and would penetrate a grid
like a Faraday cage as well. If the movable piece
is unaffected by the position of the magnet, then
that means that the magnetic field cannot
penetrate the sheet. Click Here to return to the search form.
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2020 The Regents of the University of California,
All Rights Reserved.
UCSB Terms of Use
|
|
|