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A magnetic dipole moment (usually just called "magnetic moment") in a magnetic field will have a potential energy related to its orientation with respect to that field.


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Note that the electron spin magnetic moment is opposite to the electron spin while the proton spin magnetic moment is in the direction of the proton spin. The electron spin or proton spin will tend to precess around the magnetic field with a frequency traditionally called the Larmor frequency. For a 1 Tesla magnetic field this Larmor frequency would be

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The Larmor frequency can be visualized classically in terms of the precession of the magnetic moment around the magnetic field, analogous to the precession of a spinning top around the gravity field. It can also be visualized quantum mechanically in terms of the quantum energy of transition between the two possible spin states for spin 1/2

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