The electric force is mathematically similar to the gravitational force that you studied in Physics 231. Magnetic forces can be produced by electric charges. The situation is complicated because these forces depend not only on the electric charges of the objects and the distance between them, but also on their velocities.
Magnetic forces are the foundation of electric motors and generators.
The dependence of magnetic forces on two velocities makes them complicated to visualize. This is particularly true because even simple examples necessarily involve vectors in all three dimensions of space. From a theoretical standpoint, the dependence on velocities makes magnetic forces vary with the velocity of the observer who is observing them. Understanding how the description of electric and magnetic forces can depend on the reference frame of the observer requires Einstein's special relativity, which will be described later in the course.