1875–80; named after H. C. Oersted
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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oersted oer·sted (ûr'stěd')
n.
The centimeter-gram-second electromagnetic unit of magnetic intensity, equal to the magnetic intensity one centimeter from a unit magnetic pole.
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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oersted  (ûr'stěd') Pronunciation Key
The unit of magnetic field strength in the centimeter-gram-second system. A unit magnetic monopole in a magnetic field with a strength of one oersted would be subjected to a force of one dyne. It is equal to 79.577 amperes per meter. |
| Oersted, Hans Christian 1777-1851.
Danish physicist who is credited as the founder of the science of electromagnetism. Oersted established the connection between electric current and magnetic force when he accidentally discovered that a compass's magnetic needle is deflected at right angles when placed next to a conductor carrying an electric current. The oersted unit of magnetic field strength is named after him. |
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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oersted
unit of magnetic-field strength, in the centimetre-gram-second system of physical units. Named for the 19th-century Danish physicist Hans Christian Orsted, it is defined as the intensity of a magnetic field in a vacuum in which a unit magnetic pole (one that repels a similar pole at a distance of one centimetre with a force of one dyne) experiences a mechanical force of one dyne in the direction of the field. Before 1932 the oersted was known as the gauss, a name sometimes still applied, though now more properly used for the unit of magnetic induction.
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