Chapter 21: Magnetic Forces and Magnetic Fields
21.1 Magnetic Fields
- A compass needle is a permanent magnet with a north (N) and south (S) magnetic pole.
- Magnetic poles behave similarly to electric charges: like poles repel, and unlike poles attract.
- Magnetic poles cannot be isolated; they always exist in pairs.
- A magnetic field surrounds a magnet. The direction of the field at a point is the direction indicated by the north pole of a compass needle at that point.
- The Earth has a magnetic field with a north magnetic pole and a south magnetic pole. The north magnetic pole is near the Earth's geographic north pole.
21.2 The Force That a Magnetic Field Exerts on a Charge
- A charge placed in an electric field experiences a force:
- For a charge to experience a magnetic force, two conditions must be met:
- The charge must be moving.
- The velocity of the charge must have a component perpendicular to the magnetic field.
- The magnetic force on a moving charge in a magnetic field is given by: , where is the angle between the velocity and the magnetic field.
- The units of magnetic field are Tesla (T), where 1 T = 1 Wb/m² = 10⁴ Gauss (G).
- Right Hand Rule No. 1 (RHR-1):
- Point fingers of the right hand along the magnetic field direction.
- Point the thumb along the velocity of the charge.
- The palm faces the direction of the magnetic force on a positive charge. The force on a negative charge is opposite to this direction.
- The magnitude of the magnetic field is defined as: where is between 0 and 180 degrees.
- Units of magnetic field:
Example: Magnetic Forces on Charged Particles
- A proton with a speed of enters a 0.40 T magnetic field at an angle of 30.0 degrees.
- The magnitude of the force on the proton is:
- The acceleration of the proton is:
- If the particle were an electron, the magnitude of the force would be the same, but the direction would be opposite.
- The acceleration of the electron would be:
21.3 The Motion of a Charged Particle in a Magnetic Field
- Charged Particle in a magnetic field vs electric field
- A velocity selector uses electric and magnetic fields to measure the velocity of a charged particle by balancing the forces.
- Electric force can do work on a charged particle, but magnetic force cannot because it's always perpendicular to the velocity.
- The magnetic force is always perpendicular to the velocity, causing the particle to move in a circle.
- The centripetal force is given by . The magnetic force provides this centripetal force: , so the radius of the circular path is .
Conceptual Example: Particle Tracks in a Bubble Chamber
- Gamma rays transform into charged particles, producing spiral tracks in a bubble chamber due to a magnetic field. Determine the sign and speed of each particle based on track curvature.
21.4 The Mass Spectrometer
- For a singly ionized particle starting from rest, the mass is given by:
- A mass spectrometer separates ions based on their mass-to-charge ratio.
- Isotopes of an element can be identified using a mass spectrometer.
21.5 The Force on a Current in a Magnetic Field
- The magnetic force on moving charges in a wire pushes the wire.
- The force on a single charge is .
- If a wire of length carries a current in a magnetic field , the magnetic force on the wire is .
Example: The Force and Acceleration in a Loudspeaker
- A voice coil in a speaker with a diameter of 0.025 m, 55 turns, in a 0.10 T field carries a 2.0 A current.
- The magnetic force on the coil is:
- If the mass of the coil and cone is 0.0200 kg, the acceleration is:
21.6 The Torque on a Current-Carrying Coil
- The forces on a current-carrying loop in a magnetic field have equal magnitude but opposite directions, creating a torque.
- The loop tends to rotate so its normal aligns with the magnetic field.
- The net torque on a coil is given by: , where is the angle between the normal to the coil and the magnetic field.
Example: The Torque Exerted on a Current-Carrying Coil
- A coil with area , 100 turns, and a 0.045 A current is in a 0.15 T magnetic field.
- The magnetic moment of the coil is:
- The maximum torque is:
- In a DC motor, a split-ring commutator ensures continuous rotation by reversing the current direction.
21.7 Magnetic Fields Produced by Currents
- Right-Hand Rule No. 2: Curl fingers in a half-circle. Point the thumb in the direction of current, then the finger tips point in direction of magnetic field.
- The magnetic field around a long, straight wire is: , where is the permeability of free space ().
Example: A Current Exerts a Magnetic Force on a Moving Charge
A wire carries 3.0 A. A particle with charge moves parallel to the wire at 0.050 m with a speed of 280 m/s.
- is permeability of free space.
The magnetic force is .
Current-carrying wires exert forces on each other.
Conceptual Example: The Net Force That a Current-Carrying Wire Exerts on a Current Carrying Coil
- Determine whether a coil is attracted to or repelled by a wire based on current directions.
- The magnetic field at the center of a circular loop is: .
Example: Finding the Net Magnetic Field
- A wire carries 8.0 A, and a loop of radius 0.030 m carries 2.0 A. Find the magnetic field at the loop's center.
- .
- The field lines around a bar magnet resemble those around a loop.
- A solenoid consists of many loops of wire.
21.8 Ampere’s Law
- Ampere's Law relates the integral of the magnetic field around a closed loop to the current passing through the loop.
- For static magnetic fields, Ampère’s law states: , where is the total steady current through the surface bounded by the closed path.
- (permeability of free space).
21.9 Magnetic Materials
- Electron “spin” and orbital motion give rise to magnetic properties.
- Ferromagnetic materials have magnetic domains where electron spins are aligned.
- Soft magnetic materials (e.g., iron) are easily magnetized but lose magnetism easily; hard magnetic materials (e.g., cobalt, nickel) are hard to magnetize but retain magnetism.
- MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) uses magnetic fields to create detailed body images without X-ray risks.
- Hydrogen atoms in the body emit radio waves in a magnetic field, which are used to create a map of their distribution.
- MRI is a powerful diagnostic tool used by surgeons for live imaging during operations.