Electromagnetic physics attempts to explain both electrically charged particle interactions and magnetic phenomena. Electric and magnetic fields have been shown to be related, despite the fact that they were once thought to be separate. The electromagnetic force governs nearly all natural interactions visible to the naked eye, with the exception of gravitational effects. The question of whether electromagnetic physics is fundamentally related to other branches of physics is still being investigated.
In 1873, British physicist James Clerk Maxwell demonstrated the connection between electricity and magnetism. He showed how charged particles interact with one another as well as how moving charges create magnetic fields. Experiment has largely confirmed his hypotheses since then. Since then, electromagnetic physics has been regarded as a single theory, encapsulated in a set of four equations known as Maxwell’s equations.
The electromagnetic, gravitational, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear forces are the four fundamental forces in nature. Each applies over all distances in space, but the electromagnetic force, like all fields of science, has a dominant range. Gravity rules at very large scales, such as with stars and galaxies. Electromagnetic interactions continue, but they are overwhelmed by gravity; electromagnetic physics is effectively “drowned out.”
The strong nuclear force dominates at extremely small scales, such as within the nucleus of a single atom. Even though the electromagnetic force tends to push protons apart, it is this force that keeps them inside the nucleus. This leaves a scale in the middle that is dominated by electromagnetic physics.
Despite the fact that the electromagnetic force interacts with each charged particle individually, it is responsible for larger interactions as a whole. A molecule can form when the electrons of one atom combine with the electrons of another. Molecules have a higher stability than individual atoms. In addition, molecules can interact with one another in a process governed by electromagnetic physics. Chemistry is based on these molecular exchanges.
The electromagnetic force may be related to the other fundamental forces, according to recent advances in physics. In everyday life, the weak nuclear force that causes radioactive decay appears to be very different from the electromagnetic force. However, at extremely high temperatures, the two distinct forces appear to merge into what is known as the electroweak force. In addition, the electromagnetic and gravitational forces appear to vary in space in a similar way. The Theory of Everything refers to the possibility that all fundamental forces are connected, as popularized by British physicist Stephen Hawking and others.