II. The measurement of magnetic hysteresis
1. Two ideal physical processes have been devised as the foundations of two methods of deducing mathematical expressions for the energy dissipated in magnetic material through magnetic hysteresis; these processes are due to Professor E. Warburg and to the late Dr. J. Hopkinson. In Warburg’s theory the specimen, in the form of a slender wire, is placed in a magnetic field due to a pair of permanent magnets so arranged as to produce magnetic force parallel to the length of the specimen. The mechanical work spent in moving these magnets through such a cycle of changes of position, that the iron is subjected to a cycle of magnetic changes, is clearly equal to the energy dissipated on account of magnetic hysteresis in the specimen. In terms of the magnetic quantities the energy dissipated per cub. centim. per cycle is — ∫I d H or ∫H d I ergs, where H is the magnetic force and I the intensity of magnetisation. Professor J. A. Ewing has applied the principle involved in Warburg’s theory to the design of a simple instrument by which the hysteresis of any specimen of sheet iron (for the range of induction B = 4000 to B = - 4000 C. G. S. units approximately) is determined by comparison with two standard specimens supplied with the instrument, and previously tested for hysteresis by the ballistic method. The principle has also been employed by W. S. Franklin, by H. S. Webb, and by G. L. W. Gill to obtain absolute determinations of hysteresis.