Magnetic field lines form in concentric circles around a cylindrical current-carrying conductor, such as a length of wire. The direction of such a magnetic field can be determined by using the "right hand grip rule" (see figure at right). The strength of the magnetic field decreases with distance from the wire. (For an infinite length wire the strength is inversely proportional to the distance.) Bending a current-carrying wire into a loop concentrates the magnetic field inside the loop while weakening it outside. Bending a wire into multiple closely spaced loops to form a coil or "solenoid" enhances this effect. A device so
Electromagnet creating a large magnetic field that extends into the space around the magnet. The effect of the core is to concentrate the field, and the magnetic field passes through the core more easily than it would pass through air. The larger the current passed through the wire coil, the more the domains align, and the stronger the magnetic field is. Finally, all the domains are lined up, and further increases in current only cause slight increases in the magnetic field: this phenomenon is called saturation. When the current in the coil is turned off, in the magnetically soft materials that