Practice Problem Set – Magnetic Fields - With Solutions

Question 1 (1 point)

Draw the magnetic field lines emanating from a magnetic dipole. How does the shape of the field
compare to that from an electric dipole?

generated from magnetic loops; field lines loop, but don’t end

generated from charges; field lines start and end

Question 2 (3 points)

(a) A proton is moving at 12% of the speed of light in the direction which is 20 degrees up
from west. It passes through the earth’s magnetic field which points due north with a
strength of 0.5 x 10-4 T. What is the resultant force on the proton? What will the radius of
curvature of its path be?

○
x ○
x ○
x ○
x 𝐹⃑ = 𝑞𝑣⃑ 𝑥 𝐵
�⃑ �𝐹⃑ � = 𝑞|𝑣||𝐵| sin 𝜃
𝑚
west ○
x ○
x ○
x ○
x = (1.6 𝑥 10−27 𝑘𝑘) �3 𝑥 108 𝑠 � (0.5 𝑥 10−4 𝑇)(0.12)

○
x ○
x ○
x ○
x = 𝟐. 𝟖𝟖 𝒙 𝟏𝟏−𝟏𝟏 𝑵 20° west of down or 70° down of west
𝑚
𝑚𝑚 �1.6 𝑥 10−27 𝑘𝑘�(.12)�3 𝑥 108 �
𝑠
𝑟= 𝑞𝑞
= (1.6 𝑥 10−19 𝐶)(0
= 𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕𝟕

(b) A cyclotron is used to accelerate protons to a velocity of 35,000 m/s. If the magnetic field
for the cyclotron is 0.75 Tesla, how large does the cyclotron have to be? If the protons
are directed from the cyclotron to a velocity selector with the same magnetic field, what
electric field is needed for the protons to pass through the selector?
 𝑞 2 𝐵 2 𝑅2
𝐾𝐾 = 1�2 𝑚𝑣 2 =
𝑚𝑚
𝑟=
2𝑚 𝑞𝑞
𝑚
�1.67 𝑥 10−27 𝑘𝑘�(35,000 )
𝑟= (1.6 𝑥 10−19 𝐶)(0.75𝑇)
𝑠
= 𝟎. 𝟒𝟒 𝒎𝒎
𝐸
𝑣=𝐵 E = vB
𝑚 𝒗
= �35,000 𝑠 � (0.75𝑇) = 𝟐𝟐, 𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝒎

Question 3 (3 points)

A wire loop is bent into the shape of a square with each side of length 4.5 cm. The loop is placed
horizontally on a tabletop with two of the sides oriented north/south and two of the sides oriented
east/west. A battery is connected so that a current of 24 mA is produced around the loop; the
current flows in the clockwise direction looking from the top. What is the force produced by the
earth’s magnetic field on each section of current-carrying wire? What is the overall torque on the
loop? What would the torque be if the same length of wire were bent into a circle instead of a
square (assuming the same current)?

𝐹⃑ = 𝐼𝑙⃑ 𝑥 𝐵
�⃑

�𝐹⃑ � = (24𝑚𝑚)(4.5𝑐𝑐)(0.5 𝑥 10−4 𝑇)

���⃑
𝐹1 = 5.4 𝑥 10−8 𝑁 𝑢𝑢 ���⃑2 = 5.4 𝑥 10−8 𝑁 𝑑𝑑𝑑𝑑
𝐹

𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇𝑇 = 𝐼𝐴⃑ 𝑥 𝐵
�⃑

= (24𝑚𝑚)(0.045𝑚)2 (0.5 𝑥 10−4 𝑇)

= 𝟐. 𝟒 𝒙 𝟏𝟏−𝟗 𝑵 ∙ 𝒎 𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬

𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = 𝜋𝑟 2

= 𝐼𝐼 𝑥 𝐵 4𝑙 = 𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 = 2𝜋𝜋

4 2𝑙 2𝑙
= 𝐼 �𝜋� 𝑙 2 𝐵 = 𝟑 𝒙 𝟏𝟏−𝟗 𝑵 ∙ 𝒎 𝑬𝑬𝑬𝑬 𝑟= 𝐴 = 𝜋( )2
𝜋 𝜋

4𝑙 2
= 𝜋

Question 4 (3 points)

a) A wire of length 24 cm is bent into a square and placed flat on a table. A current of 45
mA is passed through the wire in a counter-clockwise direction (looking from above).
 What is the magnitude and direction of the resulting magnetic field at the center of the
square?

𝑙
�⃑ = 𝜇0 𝐼 ∫ 𝑑𝑠⃑×𝑟̂
𝐵
𝜇0 𝐼 𝑑𝑠⃑𝑟̂ 𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠
= 4𝜋
𝑙 𝜇0 𝐼
∫ 𝑟 2  𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑠 = 2𝑟  4𝜋
𝑑𝑠⃑(𝑙) 𝜇0 𝐼𝐼 𝑑𝑠⃑
∫ 𝑟 2 (2𝑟) = 8𝜋 ∫ 𝑟3 =
𝜇0 𝐼𝐼
∫02
𝑑𝑠⃑
3 
4𝜋 𝑟2 8𝜋 𝑙
�𝑠2 +( )2
2

𝑑𝑑 𝑥 𝜇0 𝐼𝐼 𝑠 0𝜇 𝐼
From an integral table you can find that:∫ 3 = |𝐵| = = 2𝜋√2𝑙
√𝑥 2 +𝑎2 𝑎2 √𝑥 2 +𝑎2 8𝜋 𝑙 𝑙
�𝑠2 +( )2
4 2

(4𝜋 × 10−7 )(0.45𝑚𝑚)

|𝐵| = = 0.85𝜇𝜇
(2𝜋�2)(0.03𝑚)

Part (b)

Two squares of wire like that in the previous question are placed side by side on a table with a
distance of 8 cm between the closest sides of the two squares. A 45 mA current passes counter-
clockwise through both squares. What is the resulting force between the two squares? Is it
attractive or repulsive?

1 2 3 4

There are no forces in the y direction.

There are four forces in the x direction.

𝜇0 𝐼 2 𝑙 1
𝐹=
2𝜋 𝑟
(4𝜋 × 10−7 )(0.45𝑚𝑚)2 (0.06𝑚) 1
𝐹13 (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) =
2𝜋 (0.14𝑚)

(4𝜋 × 10−7 )(0.45𝑚𝑚)2 (0.06𝑚) 1

𝐹23 (𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟) =
2𝜋 (0.08𝑚)

(4𝜋 × 10−7 )(0.45𝑚𝑚)2 (0.06𝑚) 1

𝐹14 (𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟𝑟) =
2𝜋 (0.20𝑚)
 (4𝜋 × 10−7 )(0.45𝑚𝑚)2 (0.06𝑚) 1
𝐹24 (𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎𝑎) =
2𝜋 (0.14𝑚)
�4𝜋×10−7 �(0.45𝑚𝑚)2 (0.06𝑚) 1 1 1 1
∑𝐹 = �(0.14𝑚) − (0.20𝑚) − (0.08𝑚) + (0.14𝑚)� = 7.8 × 10−11 N
2𝜋

This is an overall repulsive force between the two squares.