Maxwell's Equations: Crash Course Physics #37

In the early 1800s, Michael Faraday showed us how a changing magnetic field induces an electromotive force, or emf, resulting in an electric current. He also found that electric fields sometimes act like magnetic fields, and developed equations to calculate the forces exerted by both. In the mid-1800s, Scottish physicist James Maxwell thought something interesting was going on there, too. So he decided to assemble a set of equations that held true for all electromagnetic interactions. In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Shini talks to us about Maxwell's Equations and how important they are to our understanding of Physics.

--

--

Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?

[crashcourse]

We made quiz questions to help you review the content in this episode! Find them on the free Crash Course App!

[sergiobeltran]

I just watched this at 2X speed, and now the whole world is on slow motion

[peternichols]

Maxwell's equations at the speed of light...

[herrkire]

Fantastic video! I understood everything. However I am a bachelor in electrical engineering and study this stuff regurarly. I think you should add more and longer pauses between sentences as there are very few breaks to actually think and contemplate. Those who lack the mathematics can't take in this much data without  time to think.

Just a thought.

[xavimotovlog]

A semester's worth of lessons in 10 minutes.

[UteChewb]

Maxwell's Equations in under 11 minutes. A few brains are going to explode. When I first encountered Maxwell's Equations, through a much longer process of understanding (heh), I thought it one of the most beautiful things I had seen. Wonderful stuff, though in concentrated form maybe only suitable for review rather than learning. Anyway, well done Crash Course Physics.

[Ashary_abashy]

Maxwell would doubt himself after seeing this

[AchiParadkar]

An honest review that I hope @crashcourse will consider in future.

1. Speed: I know I have a pause button and can watch it at a slower speed. It had always been the routine. But this time they've taken it a bit too far. It's okay to stretch a video from 10 mins to 15 mins. The viewers won't treat it as a long video. If you still insist to keep it short, try reducing the content rather than cramming everything into 10 mins.
2. Content: A lot of secondary details overshadowed the actual content of the course. The intention of watching a CrashCourse video is to understand a topic in the simplest way possible, and not just brushing up what we've already learnt. The content seemed like a summary of the chapter aimed at someone who's already studied the topic. If I were new to Maxwell's Equation, I'd as lost as I'm in the classroom. So the whole point of this video becomes moot.
3. Delivery: Dr. Shini is a brilliant physicist, and could've done a lot to make us appreciate the topic. Rather she just gives a flat delivery of the script like the evening bullet news. It's not just the speed, but it seemed more like reading notes straight from the book. I'd love it if She could weigh the important concepts more heavily and let the secondary equations run in the background as additional reference.
4. Creativity: Fancy colours and cool animations to the content didn't just cut it. Please try to make us visualize what you're presenting. I was eagerly waiting for an "Ah! ha!" moment when she was explaining the equations. The math and all was cool, but if it was just those equations and their derivations, we could've gone back to books. Expecting more efforts in making us realize the beauty of Maxwell's Laws rather than the nitty-gritty.

However, big thanks for creating such awesome contents and sharing for free... much appreciated. Keep up this great work!

[Carofdoom]

You should probably have closed loops around your integral signs, to denote that it is a closed loop line integral.

[jamescarmody]

I love how Doctor Somara takes something well known like the speed of light and presents how scientists derived it before she explains what their result was. She keeps lecture interesting and works my mind!

[kureem]

I end up with a toothache and forgetting what I already knew about Maxwell equations.

[weinzgor]

I'm a 2nd year maths and physics undergrad doing a course on Electromagnetism this semester, and this video does a great job of summing up all the key points (highly recommend for students who like me who pass off watching youtube videos sorta related to their topic as studying instead of reading lecture notes lol). However, it is probably not ideal for someone with little to no background in the area. I imagine many of the points made required an extra tab for wiki-ing to get a more intuitive feel. Hats off to her for compounding so much information so coherently though, great revision aid!

[zk]

Wasn't sure if you were teaching or rapping! :/

[vourkosdude]

I am a telecommunications engineer and I did this in extreme detail during my uni days. And not a moment since! You brought back some memories...

[ThomasWilgenbus]

This episode was done AT the speed of light!

[Cheeriot]

After battling my em course for two months, this is the best summary I've ever hoped I would stumble on!

[Elbarto]

If this was the first video I’d ever seen about physics I’d run away in terror. Slow

[devluz]

It would be great to have another season of Crash Course Physics that focuses on intuition and experiments. If I pause the video regularly I can follow the math but I don't think I can really grasp the meaning of it.

[jameskennedy]

As an educator, I'd like to point out that people tend to only be able to hold a very small number of things in their heads at once-- somewhere between five to seven. That's simple things, like one digit numbers. The only reason any of us can do more complex tasks than that is because of "chunking" where we eventually form large single units out of things we've already learned have significance-- like being able to remember a long string of numbers because it's a combination of your sister's birthday, your weight, your friend's address, and your social security number, backwards. This video is horrible because it introduces a bazillion new names for things and calculus concepts as if it's a Micro-Machines commercial from the '80s with that guy who talks a million miles a minute. There's no way to chunk any of this, unless someone already knows it.

[ryeofoatmeal]

ive been wanting this animation 5:50 for ages cos i couldnt imagine in my head. thanks :)