LabQuest App 25

The Magnetic Field in a Coil

When an electric current flows through a wire, a magnetic field is produced around the wire. The
magnitude and direction of the field depends on the shape of the wire and the direction and
magnitude of the current through the wire.
In this activity, you will examine how the magnetic field is related to both the current through a
coil and the number of turns in a coil. A Magnetic Field Sensor will be used to detect the field at
the center of the coil. The sensor will also detect the Earth’s field and any local fields due to
electric currents or some metals in the vicinity of the sensor, so you will need to account for these
fields.

Figure 1

OBJECTIVES
l Measure the field at the center of a coil.
l Determine the relationship between magnetic field and the number of turns in a coil.
l Determine the relationship between magnetic field and the current in a coil.
l Explore Earth’s magnetic field in your classroom.

MATERIALS
LabQuest
LabQuest App
Magnetic Field Sensor
Extech Digital DC Power Supply
mailing or poster tube, 4–10 cm diameter, with a hole drilled for the sensor
magnetic compass
insulated wire (at least 1 m)

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Experiment 25

INITIAL SETUP
1. Loop the wire 10 times around the end of the tube with the hole, creating a coil of 10 turns.
The coil should be next to, but not cover, the hole.
2. Connect the coil and power supply, as shown in Figure 1.
3. Bend the tip of the Magnetic Field Sensor so the tip is perpendicular to the shaft of the sensor,
and set the range switch on the sensor to 6.4 mT (low amplification). Connect the sensor to
LabQuest. Choose New from the File menu.
4. Set up the data-collection mode.
a. On the Meter screen, tap Mode. Change the data-collection mode to Events with Entry.
b. Enter the Name (Current) and Units (A).
c. Select Average over 10 seconds. Each time you tap Keep during data collection, data will
be collected for 10 seconds and then the average value will be displayed.
d. Select OK.

PRELIMINARY QUESTIONS AND ADDITIONAL SETUP

1. Move the magnetic field sensor far away from the coil of wire. Hold it so that the main shaft of
the sensor is vertical and the smaller, bent part of the sensor is parallel to the floor. Rotate the
sensor around a vertical axis. Monitor the readings. What do you observe? What is causing the
variation of field reading?
2. Determine the orientation of the sensor when the magnetic field is at a maximum, and compare
the direction that the dot on the sensor is pointing with the direction that the magnetic compass
needle points. What did you discover? How much does the reading change in one rotation?
3. Insert the sensor into the small hole at the end of the tube. The sensor tip, bent at a 90° angle,
should be at the center of the coil, with the tip of the sensor in the plane of the coil (see
Figure 2). Turn the current dial on the power supply to its lowest setting. Turn the voltage dial
to about half way (the dot on the dial will face upwards). Turn on the power supply and slowly
increase current to 3 A. Monitor the magnetic field readings. What did you observe?

Figure 2

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 The Magnetic Field in a Coil
PROCEDURE
Part I How is the Magnetic Field in a Coil Related to Current?
In the first part of the experiment, determine the relationship between the magnetic field in the
center of a coil and the current through the coil. Use the coil with all 10 turns for all of Part I.

1. Verify that the power supply is set to 3 A. Confirm that the sensor tip is still aligned coaxially
with the tube, and keep it in this position throughout the experiment.
2. Turn off the power supply. Choose Zero from the Sensors menu to zero the sensor when no
current is flowing. By doing this, you remove the effect of Earth’s magnetic field and any local
magnetism.
3. Collect data.
a. Start data collection.
b. Turn on the power supply.
c. Tap Keep. When prompted, enter 3.0 as the current. Select OK to store the data pair.
d. Decrease the current by 0.5 A. Tap Keep. Enter 2.5 as the current and select OK.
e. Repeat this process until you collect data for 0.0 A, and then stop data collection.
f. Turn off the power supply.
4. Answer the Analysis questions for Part I before proceeding to Part II.
Part II How is the Magnetic Field in a Coil Related to the Number of Turns?
In the second part of the experiment, determine the relationship between the magnetic field at the
center of a coil of wire and the number of turns in the coil. Orient the magnetic field sensor as
before. Use a current of 3.0 A for all of Part II.

5. Set up the data-collection mode to collect data as a function of number of coils rather than
current.
a. Choose New from the File menu.
b. On the Meter screen, tap Mode. Change the data-collection mode to Events with Entry.
c. Enter the Name (Turns) and leave the Units field blank.
d. Select Average over 10 seconds. Each time you tap Keep during data collection, data will
be collected for 10 seconds and then the average value will be displayed.
e. Select OK.
6. With no current flowing, choose Zero from the Sensors menu to zero the sensor.
7. Now you are ready to collect magnetic field data as a function of the number of turns.
a. Start data collection.
b. Turn on the power supply and verify that it is set to 3 A.
c. Tap Keep. When prompted, enter 10 as the number of coils. Select OK to store the data
pair.
d. Turn off the power supply. Remove one loop of wire from the tube to reduce the number
of turns by one. If you moved the tube or the sensor, verify that you put it back to the same
position as before.
e. Turn on the power supply.

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Experiment 25

f. Tap Keep and enter 9 as the number of turns. Select OK.

g. Repeat this process until you have only one turn of wire on the tube.
h. Stop data collection and turn off the power supply.

ANALYSIS
Part I How is the Magnetic Field in a Coil Related to Current?
1. Inspect your graph of magnetic field vs. current. What is the relationship between the current in
a coil and the resulting magnetic field at the center of the coil?
2. If the points on your graph of magnetic field vs. current through the coils follow a generally
linear path, fit a straight line to the data.
a. Choose Curve Fit from the Analyze menu and select the check box for Magnetic Field.
b. Select Linear as the Fit Equation. The linear regression statistics are displayed.
c. Record the slope and y-intercept of the regression line in the data table, along with their
units.
d. Select OK and print or sketch your graph.

3. Inspect the equation of the best-fit line through the data points. Explain the significance of the
constants in your equation. What are the units of the constants? Should the fitted line pass
through the origin? Why or why not?
Part II How is the Magnetic Field in a Coil Related to the Number of Turns?
4. Inspect your graph of magnetic field vs. the number of turns. What is the relationship between
the number of turns and the resulting magnetic field at the center of the coil?
5. If the points on your graph of magnetic field vs. number of turns follow a generally linear path,
fit a straight line to the data.
a. Choose Curve Fit from the Analyze menu.
b. Select Linear as the Fit Equation. The linear regression statistics are displayed.
c. Record the slope and y-intercept of the regression line in the data table, along with their
units.
d. Select OK and print or sketch your graph.
6. How is magnetic field related to the number of turns? Explain the significance of the constants
in your equation. What are the units of the constants? Should the fitted line pass through the
origin? Why or why not?

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 The Magnetic Field in a Coil
DATA TABLE
Part I

Magnetic field vs. current fit parameters

Slope

Intercept

Part II

Magnetic field vs. turns fit parameters

Slope

Intercept

EXTENSIONS
1. How does the diameter of the coil loop affect the magnetic field? Design and conduct an
experiment to answer this question.
2. Remove the magnetic field sensor from the coil, straighten the tip, and hold it horizontally.
Collect data while rotating it smoothly about a horizontal axis, so that it measures the field
readings in a vertical circle. Explain where the maximum and minimum readings occur and
where zero or near-zero readings occur. Compare your pattern to the data you collect while
rotating about a vertical axis.

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