Electrons in a magnetic field

[Ashford]

hey,
I know that a magnetic field deflects an electron beam (for instance in a CRT monitor), so my question is, does an electron get attracted to any specific end of a magnet or does it always get deflected regardless of the pole facing it? I learn something like this in physics class but it was just kind of brief and unclear.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ericgibbs]

hey,
I know that a magnetic field deflects an electron beam (for instance in a CRT monitor), so my question is, does an electron get attracted to any specific end of a magnet or does it always get deflected regardless of the pole facing it? I learn something like this in physics class but it was just kind of brief and unclear.

Thanks in advance.

hi,
Look thru this pdf, covers the question and more.

 

[dknguyen]

The force an electrostatic field exerts on an electron is along the field lines. The force a magnetic field exerts on an electron is perpendicular to the field lines and perpindicular to the relative motion between the magnetic field and the electron (if the electron or magnetic field are stationary relative to each other, no force is exerted).

So a magnet won't exert a force on the electron at all unless the electron is already moving relative to the magnet (or conversely, unless the magnet is moving relative to the electron). So definately no attraction or repulsion there. And when there is relative motion so the magnetic field actually does exert a force on the electron, it is perpindicular to both the relative motion and the magnetic field lines. Since it's perpindicular to the magnetic field lines and the magnetic field lines go to and away from the the poles of the magnet, electrons are not attracted or repulsed from magnetic poles.

You have to consider 3D space when you talking about the force a magnetic field applies on an electron.