Magnetometer Carl Friedrich Gauss, head of the Geomagnetic Observatory in Göttingen, published a paper on measurement of the Earth's magnetic field. It described a new instrument that consisted of a permanent bar magnet suspended horizontally from a gold fibre. The difference in the oscillations when the bar was magnetised and when it was demagnetised allowed Gauss to calculate an absolute value for the strength of the Earth's magnetic field. The gauss, the CGS unit of magnetic flux density was named in his honour, defined as one maxwell per square centimeter; it equals 1×10 tesla (the SI unit). Francis Ronalds and Charles
Magnetic tension force Magnetic tension force The magnetic tension force is a restoring force (SI unit: Pa·m) that acts to straighten bent magnetic field lines. It equals: It is analogous to rubber bands and their restoring force. The force is directed antiradially. Although magnetic tension is referred to as a force, it is actually a pressure gradient (Pa m) which is also a force density (N m). The magnetic pressure is the energy density of the magnetic field which can be visualized as increasing as magnetic field lines converge in a given volume of space. In contrast, magnetic tension force is determined by