Properties of Lines of Flux
To make the imaginary lines of flux describe the behaviour of the magnetic field we must give them appropriate properties. Thus lines of flux have the following properties:
- They are imaginary.
- By definition they emerge from a north pole and re-enter at a south pole.
- They are continuous and never ending (thus they travel inside the magnet from the south to north).
- They never cross each other (a compass placed at a given point can only point in one direction).
- They can bend, but resist bending or distortion.
- They behave as though elastic (and therefore try to shorten themselves).
- They repel each other sideways (they fill evenly the volume available - there are no abrupt discontinuities).