Magnetic Monopoles: A feat yet to be reached

Jan K Huertas de la Cruz

Magnets are one of the earths most studied phenomena. Why? Is one of those natural marvels that make our twentieth first century what it is today, a marvelous age in the advancement of technology. And even more, it is an occurrence that helps the earth to be habitable, it produces a magnetic field which without it we couldn’t live on earth and just for us to enjoy it is thanks to it that the beautiful Aurora happens. But why from a most studied phenomenon, the magnets, can’t we get monopoles?  This question has baffled the minds of geniuses for centuries and it is the main argument in this essay.

According to different researchers and scientists a magnetic monopole is “a hypothetical physics particle with only one magnetic pole.” In other words, when we have a magnet we normally have two "charges", a north pole and a south pole, which means that overall, the magnetic charge of the magnet cancels out. To better understand the magnetic charges of a magnet we can use the magnetic field as an example and here is a diagram.

 

In the pictures above we can see a magnet bar with both its north and south poles, and the diagram of the magnetic field it produces.

Everyone knows that the north and south poles are attracted, but why is the question many people have in their minds. When the magnetic force exits from the north pole it begins to weaken, so naturally when it starts weakening it feels attracted and controlled by a stronger force which is the south pole, so eventually this force starts to deviate from its straight course and starts moving to the south pole. This is what we can see in the picture in the right.

But the question we want to answer is why we can’t have magnetic monopoles. There are many theories as to why, and what I’m going to do is explain the why as I understood it. Let’s begin the explanation by making an analogy. Let’s say that the bar magnet is a water hose and that the water is the magnetic field it produces. Looking at the picture, and knowing how a water hose works, we can say that the water enters from the south pole and exits the north pole. But what would happen if we cut a hose in half, one of those halves is going to stop throwing water since by basics physics we know that for water to exit the hose first water must enter the hose. One can’t just cut the hose in half and expect it to keep throwing water from the 2 halves.

Well, this basic understanding can also be applied to magnets, if we cut a magnet in half, the “force” must exit from one side and enter from the other one. One can’t just cut it in half and expect a constant force to keep acting by its own, like the water hose. Many scientists have conducted many experiments and researches such as the string theory trying to explain the possible existence of magnetic monopoles, but we are yet to see such thing.

This is a basic explanation as to why magnetic monopoles can’t be produce nowadays. Even though we have many theorists claiming that they can be manufactured we are yet to see this happening. But as for now let’s keep in mind that magnets are here for a reason, and the main reason I can think of as to why they exist, is that without them we wouldn’t be able to live on earth, so as for now let’s just keep enjoying their benefits. 

References:

• Giancoli, Douglas C. Physics for Scientists & Engineers with Modern Physics. 4th ed. Vol. 1. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall, 2009. Print.

• "Magnetic Principles” Magnetic Research and Development. (Physics)Network. Web. 22 Nov. 2011