This law tells us that an object can have something called a “charge,” and, if it does have a charge, forces can be exerted on the object which are not caused by something in contact with it. We can measure these forces as we measure other forces, for example by measuring the acceleration it causes and the mass of the charged object, or by balancing it with a known force, such as that exerted by a spring with a particular compression and known spring constant.
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We call the force described by Lorentz’s law the electromagnetic force, and it is one of the four fundamental forces in nature. The electromagnetic force is ultimately responsible for most everyday phenomena except gravity. It forces electrons to travel around the nuclei of atoms, it forces atoms to stick together in molecules, and forces molecules to stick together in our bodies and in the other things which surround us. In Electromagnetic Fields I and II we will study the electromagnetic force and its applications in engineering.
