Chapter 27
Magnetic Field and Magnetic Forces
Magnets and Magnetic Fields
Magnetic force (Lorentz force)
force on a moving charge
force on a current in a wire
torque on a current loop
mass spectrometer
F
v
B
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 1
Magnetism
New Topic
Phys 2435: Chap. 27, Pg 2
Magnetism
Natural magnets were observed by Greeks more than 2500
years ago in “Magnesia” (northern Greece)
certain type of stone (lodestone) exert forces on similar
stones
Small lodestone suspended with a string aligns itself in
a north-south direction due to Earth’s magnetic field!
Direction of Magnetic Field
out of in to
tail
Drawing vectors in
head page page
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 3
Bar Magnets
like poles
N S S N
repel
unlike poles
S N S N
attract
How do the magnets exert forces on each other?
via the magnetic field
Magnetic Dipole Electric Dipole
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 4
Isolated Magnetic “Poles”?
Can you have an isolated magnetic pole (called:
magnetic monopole)?
it would be a magnetic North or a South Pole all by
itself! (just like an electric + or - charge)
How can we isolate this magnetic charge?
Simple, right? Try cutting a bar magnet in half:
What you get
is a bunch of
little magnets!
No attempt yet has been successful in
finding magnetic monopoles in nature!
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 5
Earth is a big magnet!
The North pole of a small
magnet (compass) points
towards geographic North
because Earth’s magnetic
South pole is up there!!
80o
1995•
1975• The magnetic pole is not at geographic north
1948•
compass corrections needed
1904•
70o
Northwest Territories
The magnetic poles drift, and reverse polarity
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 6
Uniform Magnetic Field
Magnetic field between two large poles of a magnet is
nearly uniform except for the edges.
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 7
Magnetic Force
New Topic
Phys 2435: Chap. 27, Pg 8
The Magnetic Force
What happens if you put a charged particle in a magnetic field?
it experiences a magnetic force!
force (Lorentz force)
Magnitude depends on
Charge q
Fmagnetic = q v B sinθ
Velocity v
Field B
Angle between v and B
Direction is “sideways” Fmag
force is perpendicular to both v and B! v
Vector cross product B
! ! !
F = qv ! B
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 9
Direction of the Magnetic Force
! ! !
F = qv ! B
Use the right-hand rule:
point your fingers along
the direction of velocity
F
curl your fingers towards
the magnetic field vector
your thumb will then v
point in the direction of
the force B
Reverse direction if it’s a negative charge!
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 10
Trajectory of a Charged Particle
in a Constant Magnetic Field
• Suppose charge +q enters B field with velocity v in a
perpendicular way. What will be the path followed by q?
x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x vx B
x x x x x x x x x x x x
q
v F F
R
Force is always ⊥ to velocity and B.
Path will be a circle. F is the centripetal force needed to keep
the charge in its circular orbit. Let’s calculate radius R:
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 11
Radius of Circular Orbit
magnetic force:
x x x x x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x x x x vx B
centripetal force:
x x x x x x x x x x x x
v q
F F
R
⇒ This is an important result:
It relates atomic quantities (m
and q) to quantities we can
measure (R, v, B) in a lab.
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 12
What happens if the charged particle enters the
field at an general angle (3-dimensional) ? It spirals!
magnetic bottle
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 13
What if both the electric and magnetic fields are
present?
! ! ! !
F = qE + qv ! B
Velocity selector
qE = qvB
v = E/B
Only those charged particles with
v=E/B can pass through.
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 14
Mass Spectrometer
Velocity selector
qE = qvB
v = E/B
Only those particles with
v can pass through.
Bending in a magnetic field
qvB' = mv /r 2
m = qBB ' r / E
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 15
ConcepTest 27.1(Pre)
27.1 Magnetic force
A beam of electrons x x x x x x x x1 x x x
enters a magnetic field x
region left to right. What x x x x x x x x x x x 2
x
path will the electrons
follow? x x x x x x x x x x x
x 3
x x x x x x x x4 x x x
x
x x x x x x x x x x x
x
x x x x x x x x x x x
x
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 16
ConcepTest 27.2(Pre)
27.2 Magnetic Force
A proton beam has the trajectory in a
magnetic field region as shown. What y
is the direction of the magnetic field
B?
(1) +y x
(2) -y
(3) +x
(4) + z (out of page)
(5) - z (into page)
Phys 2435: Chap 27, Pg 17
Magnetic Force on an
Electric Current
New Topic
Phys 2435: Chap. 27, Pg 18
Magnetic Force on a Current-
Carrying Wire
If a magnetic field acts on one charged particle, what about
many charges flowing through a wire - a current?
Assume that there are N
charges inside the length v
L of the wire θ
F = N q v B sinθ L
number of B
charges force on
one charge
Uniform Magnetic force on
F = I L B sinθ a straight segment of
current-carrying Phys
wire2435: Chap. 27, Pg 19
Magnetic Force on a Current-Carrying Wire
! ! ! The right-hand-rule
F = Il ! B
Question: When is the force greatest?
Phys 2435: Chap. 27, Pg 20
Definition of the magnetic field
From the expression for force on a current-carrying wire:
B = Fmax / Ι L
SI unit: 1 N / A⋅m ≡ 1 tesla (T)
another unit: 1 gauss (G) = 10-4 tesla
Some sample magnetic field strengths:
Earth: B = 0.5 G = 0.5 x 10-4 T
electromagnet: B = 2 Tesla
Phys 2435: Chap. 27, Pg 21
ConcepTest 27.3(post)
27.3 Magnetic force on a wire
A horizontal wire carries a current and is
in a vertical magnetic field. What is the
direction of the force on the wire? I
(1) left
(2) right
(3) zero B
(4) into the page
(5) out of the page
Phys 2435: Chap. 27, Pg 22
Torque due to Magnetic Force
New Topic
Phys 2435: Chap. 27, Pg 23
Torque on a Current Loop
What happens if a closed loop of wire is put in a magnetic field?
It rotates!
" = NIAB sin !
Torque
N is the number of loops
I is the current in one loop
A is the area of the loop
B is the magnetic field
ө is the angle between B and the
perpendicular to the face of the loop
Phys 2435: Chap. 27, Pg 24
Torque on a Current Loop
• Define magnetic dipole moment
" !
µ = NIA
Then the torque can be written as
a vector cross product
! ! !
" = µ!B
The potential energy is
! !
U = "µ ! B
Phys 2435: Chap. 27, Pg 25
Mass spectrometer
New Topic
Phys 2435: Chap. 27, Pg 26
How the electron was discovered?
J.J. Thomson’s e/m experiment in 1897.
Electrons are first accelerated
by a voltage
Then, only electrons with a
particular speed can pass
through a region of uniform
E and B fields and land
straight on the screen:
15 years later, R. Millikan measured the electron charge
precisely e=1.602176462(63)x10-19 C, which led to the
electron mass m=9.10938188(72)x10-31 kg.
Phys 2435: Chap. 27, Pg 27
ConcepTest 27.4(post)
27.4 velocity selector
What direction would a magnetic (1) Up (parallel to E )
field have to point so that a beam of
(2) Down (antiparallel to E )
electrons traveling to the right could
go undeflected through a region (3) Into the page
where there is a uniform electric (4) Out of the page
field that is pointing vertically up?
(5) This is impossible to
accomplish
B=?
electrons v
Phys 2435: Chap. 27, Pg 28
