electromagnetism

noun elec·tro·mag·ne·tism \ i-ˌlek-trō-ˈmag-nə-ˌti-zəm \

Updated on: 2 Apr 2018

Definition of electromagnetism

1 : magnetism developed by a current of electricity

2 a : a fundamental physical force that is responsible for interactions between charged particles which occur because of their charge and for the emission and absorption of photons, that is about a hundredth the strength of the strong force, and that extends over infinite distances but is dominant over atomic and molecular distances — called also electromagnetic force; compare gravity 3a(2), strong force, weak force

b : a branch of physical science that deals with the physical relations between electricity and magnetism

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Recent Examples of electromagnetism from the Web

The firm formerly known as Dong, for Danish Oil and Natural Gas, is now Ørsted, a big wind firm named after the founder of electromagnetism.

— The Economist, "Royal Dutch Shell and Total flirt with becoming utilities," 28 Mar. 2018
Soon after developing general relativity, Einstein began to wonder if there might be a wave associated with gravity as there is with electromagnetism.

— NBC News, "Einstein made his share of errors. Here are three of the biggest," 14 Mar. 2018
Electric guitars work because of electromagnetism: The pickups on a guitar, which are transducers, receive the mechanical vibrations of the strings and turn them into an electric current.

— rachel z. arndt, Popular Mechanics, "Play Guitar Through Your Computer Speakers," 16 Sep. 2013
Mr Manning says the industry is also looking for ways to shield equipment from electromagnetism, for example by using Faraday cages, metallic structures that block radio waves, to render the threat less effective.

— The Economist, "HEMP-induced anxietyAmerica’s utilities prepare for a nuclear threat to the grid," 9 Sep. 2017
The team hopes to use microfluidics (differences in either liquid or air pressure) or electromagnetism (interactions of electric currents and magnetic fields) to move the pins.

— maya wei-haas, Smithsonian, "This Device Translates Text To Braille in Real Time," 8 May 2017
In fact, under Maxwell's equations, which originally defined electromagnetism, light can't scatter off itself.

— john timmer, Ars Technica, "Researchers may have devised a sensitive test for new particles," 14 Aug. 2017
If electromagnetism were only a little stronger, then even in the hearts of stars nuclei would not be banged together hard enough to bring forth carbon.

— The Economist, "If the universe was not “fine-tuned”Reflections on the fine-structure constant," 13 July 2017
Theorists in the 1970s posited a relationship between the particles that carry forces, like the photon that conveys electromagnetism or light, and the basic constituents of matter, electrons and quarks.

— dennis overbye, New York Times, "Yearning for New Physics at CERN, in a Post-Higgs Way," 19 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'electromagnetism.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.