Moving Charges and Magnetism

Case Study Based Questions

Case Study 1
In 1820, A Danish physicist, Hans Christian Oersted, discovered that there is a
relationship between electricity and magnetism. By setting up a compass through a
wire carrying an electric current, Oersted showed that moving electrons can create a
magnetic field. Oersted found that, for a straight wire carrying a steady current (DC),
the magnetic field lines encircle the current-carrying wire.

The magnetic field lines lie in a plane perpendicular to the wire. If the direction of the
current is reversed, the direction of the magnetic force reverses. The strength of the
field is directly proportional to the magnitude of the current. The strength of the field
at any point is inversely proportional to the distance of the point from the wire.

Read the given passage carefully and give the answer of the following questions:

Q1. Who was the first to discover the relation between electric and magnetic fields?

a. H.C. Oersted

b. Charles William Oersted

c. Charles Maxwell

d. Andre Marie Ampere

Q2. If magnitude of the current in the wire increases, strength of magnetic field:

a. increases

b. decreases

c. remains unchanged

d. None of these
Q3. Which of the following statements is true?

a. There is no relationship between electricity and magnetism

b. An electric current produces a magnetic field

c. A compass is not affected by electricity

d. A compass is not affected by a magnet

Q4. A compass needle is placed below a straight conducting wire. If current is passing
through the conducting wire from north to south, then the deflection of the compass
is:

a. towards west

b. towards east

c. keeps oscillating in east-west direction

d. no deflection

Q5. Charges at rest can produce:

a. static electric field

b. magnetic field

c. induced current

d. conventional current

Solutions
Case Study 2
A magnetic field can be produced by moving, charges or electric currents. The basic
equation governing the magnetic field due to a current distribution is the Biot-Savart's
law. Finding the magnetic field resulting from a current distribution involves the
vector product and is inherently a calculus problem when the distance from the
current to the field point is continuously changing.

According to this law, the magnetic field at a point due to a current element of length
ⅆ𝑙⃗ carrying current I, at a distance r from the element is

Biot-Savart's law has certain similarities as well as difference with Coulomb's law for
electrostatic field. e.g. There is an angle dependence in Biot- Savart's law which is not
present in electrostatic case.

Read the given passage carefully and give the answer of the following questions:

Q1. The direction of magnetic field ⅆB ⃗⃗ due to a current element ⅆ𝑙⃗ at a point of
distance r⃗ from it, when a current / passes through a long conductor is in the
direction:

a. of position vector r⃗ of the point

b. of current element ⅆ𝑙⃗

c. perpendicular to both ⅆ𝑙⃗ and r⃗

d. perpendicular to ⅆ𝑙⃗

Q2. The magnetic field due to a current in a straight wire segment of length L at a
point on its perpendicular bisector at a distance r (r>>L):
Q3. Two long straight wires are set parallel to each other. Each carries a current i in
the same direction and the separation between them is 2r. The intensity of the
magnetic field midway between them is:

Q4. A long straight wire carries a current along the z-axis for any two points in the x-y
plane. Which of the following is always false?

a. The magnetic fields are equal

b. The directions of the magnetic fields are the same

c. The magnitudes of the magnetic fields are equal

d. The field at one point is opposite to that at the other point

Q5. Biot-Savart's law can be expressed alternatively as:

a. Coulomb's Law

b. Ampere's circuital law

c. Ohm's Law

d. Gauss's Law

Solutions
Case Study 3
Moving coil galvanometer operates on Permanent Magnet Moving Coil (PMMC)
mechanism and was designed by the scientist d'Arsonval. Moving coil galvanometers
are of two types:

(i) Suspended coil

(ii) Pivoted coil type or tangent galvanometer.

Its working is based on the fact that when a current carrying coil is placed in a
magnetic field, it experiences a torque. This torque tends to rotate the coil about its
axis of suspension in such a way that the magnetic flux passing through the coil is
maximum.

Read the given passage carefully and give the answer of the following questions:

Q1. A moving coil galvanometer is an instrument which:

a. is used to measure emf

b. is used to measure potential difference

c. is used to measure resistance

d. is a deflection instrument which gives a deflection when a current flows through its
coil

Q2. To make the field radial in a moving coil galvanometer:

a. number of turns of coil is kept small

b. magnet is taken in the form of horse-shoe

c. poles are of very strong magnets

d. poles are cylindrically cut

Q3. The deflection in a moving coil galvanometer is:

a. directly proportional to torsional constant of spring

b. directly proportional to the number of turns in the coil

c. inversely proportional to the area of the coil

d. inversely proportional to the current in the coil

Q4. In a moving coil galvanometer, a coil of N-turns of area A and carrying current / is
placed in a radial field of strength B is:

a. NA²B²1 b. NABI²

c. N²ABI d. NABI

Q5. To increase the current sensitivity of a moving coil galvanometer, we should

decrease:

a. strength of magnet

b. torsional constant of spring

c. number of turns in coil

d. area of coil

Solutions
1. (d) is a deflection instrument which gives a deflection when a current flows through
its coil
A moving coil galvanometer is a sensitive instrument which is used to measure a
deflection when a current flows through its coil.

2. (d) poles are cylindrically cut

Uniform field is made radial by cutting pole pieces cylindrically.

3. (b) directly proportional to the number of turns in the coil

The deflection in a moving coil galvanometer,

4. (d) NABI

The deflecting torque acting on the coil is

5. (b) torsional constant of spring

Current sensitivity of galvanometer

Hence, to increase (current sensitivity) Sp (torsional constant of spring), k must be

decreased.

Case Study 4
Read the given passage carefully and give the answer of the following questions:

Solutions
1. Magnetic field due to a long current carrying wire at r is
4. Let the magnetic fields due to a long straight wire of radius R carrying a steady
current / at a distance r from the centre of the wire are
Case Study 5
A solenoid is a long coil of wire tightly wound in the helical form. Solenoid consists of
closely stacked rings electrically insulated from each other wrapped around a non-
conducting cylinder. Figure below shows the magnetic field lines of a solenoid
carrying a steady current I. We see that if the turns are closely spaced, the resulting
magnetic field inside the solenoid becomes fairly uniform, provided that the length of
the solenoid is much greater than its diameter. For an ideal solenoid, which is
infinitely long with turns tightly packed, the magnetic field inside the solenoid is
uniform and parallel to the axis, and vanishes outside the solenoid.

Read the given passage carefully and give the answer of the following questions:
Solutions
 Solutions for Questions 6 to 15 are Given Below

Case Study 6
Case Study 7
Case Study 8
Case Study 9
Case Study 10
Case Study 11
Case Study 12
Case Study 13

Case Study 14
Case Study 15
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