Lab #7: Magnetic Field of the Earth
During this lab, we used a galvanometer, a compass, a power supply, and
some banana jacks to find the horizontal component of earths magnetic field. We
also used a multimeter to measure current on the galvanometers coil.
The objectives of this activity were:
To start the study of magnetic fields
To understand how earths magnetic field works
Due to the fact that, for this activity, we were to build and use a tangent
galvanometer, composed of a device with a coiled wire and a compass set in the
space on the middle of the wire, we were able to use the equation to find the
magnetic strength of a coil ( B c )
B c =KI
Where I is the current going through the coil and K equals to the product of
the permeability of free space
(o )
and the number of turns on the coil (N)
divided by twice the radius of the coil. The equation looks like:
K=
o N
2R
To be able to relate the horizontal component of earths magnetic field ( B e
), we set up the coil to be around the compass, aligned the compass north to the
coils direction, and connected to the DC power supply. Then we can use the
following equation:
Bc
KI
=tan=
Be
Be
Where is the change in the angle on the compass due to the magnetic field
of the coil (which can be controlled by changing the current on the coil supplied by
the DC power supply)
To be able to plot our data as a current vs tan graph, we solve the previous
equation for current (I)
I=
Be
tan
K
Which resembles the equation of a straight line with
Be
K
as the slope
The first step in our experiment was to set up the tangent galvanometer: we
set the compass inside the coil and oriented the coil in such a way that the coils
were aligned with the compass pointing North. We had to do this without connecting
the coil to the DC power supply to avoid any interference from the coils magnetic
field, which only works when given current.
Next, we connected the power supply to the coil in the 5 turns setting, while
also connecting a multimeter in series to measure current, and modified the output
on the power supply to give the coil enough current to move the compass needle to
a 10 degree deflection from 0. Once the deflection was made, we recorded the
value on the ammeter as our current value. We repeated the process of varying the
output to produce deflections of 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 degrees and recorded
the current values from the ammeter.
Angle ()
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
5 turns
tan
0.176327
0.363970
0.577350
0.839100
1.191750
1.732050
2.747480
Current (A)
0.09
0.13
0.27
0.34
0.49
0.69
1.06
Then, we repeated the same process, but this time with the power supply
connected to the coil on the 10 turns setting,
Angle ()
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
10 turns
tan
0.176327
0.363970
0.577350
0.839100
1.191750
1.732050
2.747480
Current (A)
0.06
0.12
0.17
0.24
0.27
0.36
0.40
and on the 15 turns setting.
Angle ()
15 turns
tan
Current (A)
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0.176327
0.363970
0.577350
0.839100
1.191750
1.732050
2.747480
0.04
0.08
0.17
0.23
0.32
0.43
0.75
After obtaining our data, we plotted Current vs tan graphs for each turn
setting, and formed a line that approximated the data points for each one. Then, we
Be
K
took a slope equation of each line to obtain our
value. The following are the
slope equations we selected for each graph:
slope=
B e 1.00.6
=
=0.384615
K 2.531.49
5 turns:
10 turns:
slope=
Be
0.40.2
=
=0.144928
K 2.20.828
15 turns:
slope=
Be
0.50.2
=
=0.27027
K 1.850.74
We calculated the K value for each set of data as well:
5 turns:
K=
o N
=
2R
mkg
( 5)
2 2
s A
=4.33 x 105
2(0.0725 m)
1.25663706 x 106
mkg
( 10 )
2 2
s A
=8.67 x 105
2(0.0725 m)
1.25663706 x 10
N (
K=
=
10 turns:
2R
mkg
( 15 )
2 2
s A
=1.3 x 104
2(0.0725 m)
1.25663706 x 10
N (
K=
=
15 turns:
2R
)
)
Finally, with these values, we could solve the slope equation for the horizontal
component of earths magnetic field ( B e ):
B e =( slope ) K
5 turns:
B e =( slope ) K=(0.384615) ( 4.33 x 105 =1.67 x 105
10 turns:
B e =( slope ) K=(0.144928) ( 8.67 x 105 =1.26 x 105
15 turns:
B e =( slope ) K=(0.27027) ( 1.3 x 104 =3.5 x 105