Experimental competition

Solution: Problem 1

28 April 2009
Page 1 of 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Problem 1: The Earths Horizontal Magnetic Field

Section I

a/2

a
i

a
Fig. 1

At O, the centre of coil, the magnetic field for a single turn is

BO = 4

( a 2)

0i

2
2
a
2 a + a
2 2 2

2 2 0i
.
a

At P, the horizontal magnetic field is

BPX

= 4

0i
2 d

( a 2)
a
d2 +
2

cos .

[0.3 point]

( a 2)

From Fig. 1 we have

d =

a
x 2 + and cos =
2

a
x2 +
2

Then, for a square coil of N turns

2 iN
B px = 0

or

[0.2 point]

[0.2 point]

a/2
a
x + 2
2
2

a/2
2 a 2
x +

0 a 2 iN
1

B px =
2
2
2 2 a 2
x + x + 2 a

2
2

[0.3 point]

Experimental competition

Solution: Problem 1

28 April 2009
Page 2 of 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2 2 0i
which becomes BO =
as x = 0 .
a

Section II

Measurements to justify that we can ignore the torsion of the string.

length of string
(cm)
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
25

time for 10 oscillations

(sec)
9.38
9.69
9.90
10.13
10.13
10.22
10.12
10.12

(Note that this data is from a different magnet used in Section III.)
We can see that the period is constant for length of string 10 cm.

Section III
The distance between the center of the magnet and the top surface of the platform for Part a), b) and
c) is 14.0 0.5 cm.

a) Coils magnetic field and Earths horizontal magnetic field are in the same direction

Since the coils magnetic field ( B ) and Earths magnetic field ( BH ) are in the same direction, from

T = 2

I
1
we have 2
mB
T

= B + BH where =

and B we can find BH from its slope and intercept.

m
4 I
2

By plotting linear graph of

1
T2

Experimental competition

Solution: Problem 1

28 April 2009
Page 3 of 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Measurement of 20 oscillations at different distances from coil, we get the result as in table.
x (cm)
10
12
14
15
17
18
19
20
21
23
25

time for 20 oscillation

(sec)
7.44
7.35
8.19
8.13
8.87
8.91
9.5
9.62
9.91
9.97
10.43
10.35
11.47
11.31
11.78
11.81
12.41
12.34
13.41
13.4
14.22
14.28

period T
(sec)
0.370
0.408
0.443
0.478
0.497
0.518
0.569
0.591
0.619
0.671
0.714

B (104 T )

2.878
2.259
1.773
1.573
1.245
1.111
0.994
0.891
0.801
0.652
0.535

1 T2
7.305
5.998
5.088
4.377
4.048
3.734
3.085
2.866
2.613
2.222
1.964

1/T2 (s-2)
8.0

y = 2.281x + 0.8856

7.0
6.0
5.0
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0.0
0.0

0.5

From graph we have:

1.0

1.5

slope
intercept

2.0

2.5

= (2.281 0.063) 104

3.0

s-2/T

BH = 0.886 0.076 s-2

The value of Earths magnetic field is

BH

0.8856
2.281 10 4

= 0.39 10 4 T = 0.39 0.04 G

-4
3.5 B (10 T)

Experimental competition

Solution: Problem 1

28 April 2009
Page 4 of 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ L2 r 2
+ = 1.68 0.09 A m2
The magnetic moment of magnet is m = 2 4 2 M
12
4

b) Earths magnetic field only

Time for 30 oscillations: 36.28, 36.25, 36.24 s.

Averaged period TE
BH =

1
TE
2

= 1.209 0.001 s
=

1
= 0.30 0.01 G
1.21 2.281 104
2

c) Coils magnetic field and Earths horizontal magnetic field are in opposite directions

The equilibrium position x0 = 31.0 0.2 cm.

0 a 2iN
1
BH =

2
2
2 2 a
a
2
x0 + 2 x0 + 2 2

= 0.31 0.01 G

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