Sources of Magnetic Field

Mark Justine R. Zapanta1* Institute of Chemistry, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines 1101 *Corresponding author: mjzapanta09@yahoo.com

Abstract
This experiment investigated two sources of magnetic field. Magnetic field can be set-up from moving charged particles (i.e. current-carrying wire) and by the intrinsic magnetic field produced by elementary particles (i.e. electrons). The magnetic field lines surrounding a bar and U-shaped magnets were visualized using iron filings. The magnetic field strength was found to be inversely proportional to the distance squared from which it is measured. It was found that a current-carrying wire produces magnetic field that form concentric field lines around the wire. This magnetic field causes the deflection of compass needle on the direction of the produced magnetic field. Keywords: experiment electromagnetism, magnetic field, magnetism, Oersted

1. Introduction
Magnetic field is a force field that fills the space around every magnet or current-carrying wire [1]. Magnetic field is produced by moving charge. Every magnet has two poles called the north (N) and south (S) poles which exert forces on other poles [2]. Like poles repel and opposite poles attract. A single magnetic pole or a monopole has never been isolated [2]. If a magnet is broken in two, each broken ends become a pole [3]. Magnetic field can be represented by magnetic field lines. These lines are drawn such that they are tangent to the magnetic field vector at that point. Close adjacent field lines indicate a large field magnitude while a small field magnitude is indicated by field lines that are far apart [3]. Permanent magnets are the earliest known sources of magnetic fields. These magnets are composed of atoms whose electrons are in constant motion about the nucleus. Electrons have an intrinsic magnetic field around them. In permanent magnets, these magnetic fields add together to give a net magnetic field around the material [4]. Strong interactions between the atomic magnetic moments of these materials cause atoms to line up parallel with one another [3]. These clusters of billions of aligned atoms are known as magnetic domains [1]. The domain magnetizations are randomly oriented when there is no external magnetic field present. Introduction of a magnetic field causes the domains to orient themselves parallel to the field causing the material to be magnetized [3]. Permanent magnets are now being produced by exposing certain ceramics to a strong magnetic field source. Current I is the flow of charge. A current-carrying wire will therefore produce a magnetic field since there is a motion of charges. When a point particle with a charge of q travels in a medium with a velocity v, the magnitude of the magnetic field B at a position r from the particle is given by (1) where is the angle between the direction of velocity and the magnetic field [4]. The total magnetic field caused by several moving charges is the vector sum of the fields caused by the individual charges. Noting that the total moving charge dQ = nqA dl, equation (1) will become (2) since I = nqAv. In vector form, equation (2) translate to

(3)

which is known as Biot-Savart Law. Equation (3) suggests a connection between electric and magnetic interactions.

Sources of Magnetic Field

The first evidence of the relationship of magnetism to moving charges was discovered by Hans Christian Oersted in 1819 when he observed that a compass needle is deflected by a current carrying wire. In this experiment, the magnetic fields generated by permanent magnets and by a current carrying wire are observed. The magnitude of the magnetic field with respect to position is also quantified.

2. Methodology
The materials used in this experiment are magnetic field sensor, Vernier LabQuest, bar magnet, U-shaped magnet, iron filings, power supply, connectors, resistor, copper wire, and compass. In the first part of the experiment (see figure 1-a), the magnitude of the magnetic fields on and near the surface of the bar and U-shaped magnet were determined using a magnetic field sensor connected to a Vernier LabQuest. The sensor was zeroed on a position relatively far from the set-up before the reading was made. The magnetic field lines of the two magnets were also determined by placing the magnets underneath a paper and sprinkling iron filings on the paper.

Figure 1. (a) Set-up used in measuring magnetic field strength (b) Set-up used in the Oersted experiment

In the second part of the experiment, current was passed in a straight wire where a compass was placed below as shown in figure 1-b. The direction of deflection of the compass was observed when the switched was closed. The effect of passing current with increasing magnitude was also observed.

3. Results and Discussion

Iron filings tend to align with magnetic field lines like compass needles thus providing an easy way to visualize the magnetic field lines [3]. Figures 2 and 3 show how the magnetic field lines are arranged near a bar and a U-shaped magnet, respectively. It can be observed that field lines connect the opposite poles of the magnets. By convention, the direction of the field outside the magnet is from the north pole to the south pole [1]. The magnetic field of the magnets collects the iron filings mainly near the two ends suggesting that the external magnetic effect of the magnets are strongest near their ends. Hence, it is also where the field lines are most closely spaced. As noted earlier, close adjacent field lines indicate a large field magnitude while a small field magnitude is indicated by field lines that are far apart [3].

Figure 2. (a) Distribution of iron filings atop a bar magnet (b) Drawing of the magnetic field lines for the situation in (a)

Figure 3. (a) Distribution of iron filings atop a U-shaped magnet (b) Drawing of the magnetic field lines for the situation in (a)

Sources of Magnetic Field

The magnitudes of the magnetic field of the bar magnet along the axis dividing the magnet between poles were measured and plotted against the inverse square of distance (see figure 4). The axis was chosen because as shown in Figure 2-b, the curvature of the magnetic field lines is minimum making the measurement easier. The correlation coefficient r was found to be 0.97 suggesting a very high correlation. The magnitude of the magnetic field thus varies inversely to the square of distance.

Figure 4. Plot of magnetic field magnitude (mT) versus distance-2 (cm-2)

The last part of the experiment was the simulation of Oersteds experiment whereby a compass was placed underneath a current-carrying wire and its deflection was observed. The wire was placed above the compass aligned on its north-south axis. The current direction in the wire is from the positive terminal of the voltage source to the negative terminal. If the positive terminal was connected to the south of the wire and the negative terminal to the north, the current flows from the south of the wire to its north. In this case, the observed deflection of the needle was to the west. When the connection to the power supply was reversed, the needle deflected to the east. This indicates that the direction of current influences the deflection of the needle. Figure 5 shows the magnetic field vectors due to a current element dl. It can be inferred that magnetic field lines form circles around the wire and in a clockwise direction if the current is directed into the plane of the page. When current flows through the wire from south to north, the direction of the magnetic field on the compass is to the west since it is under the wire (see figure 5). If the compass was placed above the wire, it will point to the east (see figure 6). When the current was increased, the deflection of the needle from the north-south axis increased. This is due to the increase in the number of charged particles flowing in the wire which caused an increase in the magnetic field strength produced by the wire. This is consistent with equation (3).

Figure 5. Magnetic field vectors due to a current element dl [3]

Figure 6. Deflection of compass needle when current passes through a wire below a compass [3]

Sources of Magnetic Field

4. Conclusion
There are two ways in which a magnetic field can be set-up. First is from moving charged particles (i.e. current-carrying wire) which creates magnetic field. Another way is the intrinsic magnetic field produced by elementary particles (i.e. electrons). The magnitude of the magnetic field produced by a permanent magnet is proportional to the inverse square of the distance from which it is measured. Magnetic field can be represented by magnetic field lines which are drawn such that they are tangent to the magnetic field vector at that point. A large field magnitude is suggested by close adjacent field lines while a small field magnitude is indicated by field lines that are far apart. Field lines connect the north and south poles of magnets. Current-carrying wire produces magnetic field lines that form concentric circles around the wire. The magnetic field produced by the wire causes the deflection of compass needle on the direction of the produced magnetic field.

References
1. 2. 3. 4. P. Hewitt, Conceptual Physics, Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd., Singapore, 2005. R. Serway and J. Jewett, Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics, 6th ed., Brooks/Cole. Singapore, 2004. H. Young and R. Freedman, University Physics, 11th ed., Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. San Francisco, 2004. D. Halliday, R. Resnick, and J. Walker, Fundamentals of Physics, 6th ed., Chapter 23, John Wiley& Sons, Inc. New York, 2001.

Sources of Magnetic Field