PHYSICS INVESTIGATORY

PROJECT

TANGENTCOIL
GALVANOMETER

2025-2026

SUBMITTED BY : NIKHILAN M
CLASS : XII

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

[Link] BABU BS
[Link],[Link],PGT PHYSICS

SRI RAMAKRISHNA PUBLIC SCHOOL

(Affiliated to CBSE – New Delhi)
 CERTIFICATE
Sri Ramakrishna Public School ,Venkatakrishnapuram
Ariyalur District – 621704

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
INVESTIGATORY PROJECT
2025 – 2026

[Link]

This is certificated to be the Bonafide record of work

done by Mr NIKHILAN M of Class XII in the physics
Lab of the school during the year 2025-26. submitted
for the CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY
EXAMINATION (CBSE) held on _______________ at SRI
RAMAKRISHNA PUBLIC SCHOOL.

Teacher Incharge Principal

Internal Examiner External Examiner

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my special
thanks of gratitude to my physics
teacher Mister SARATH BABU B.S as
well as our principal [Link]
Prasad who gave me the golden
opportunity to do this wonderful
project on the topic

“ TANGENTCOIL
GALVANOMETER ”

I offer my regards and blessings to

all of those who supported me in any
respect during the completion of
theproject.
NIKHILAN M
CLASS XII
 OBJECTIVE

To study the earth’s

magnetic field using a tangent
galvanometer.

To find out the horizontal

Component of earth’s magnetic
field (Bh).

To determine the reduction

factor of given tangent
galvanometer.
 I INTRODUCTION
Earth’s magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the
magnetic field that extends from the Earth’s interior to where it meets
the solar wind, a stream of charged particle emanating from the Sun. Its
magnitude at the Earth’s surface ranges from 25 to 65 Microtel
as(0.25to0.65gauss).Roughly speaking it is the field of a magnetic dipole
currently tilted at an angle of about 10 degrees with respect to Earth’s
rotational axis, as if there were a bar magnet placed at that angle at the
center of the Earth. Unlike a bar magnet, however, Earth’s magnetic
field changes over time because it is generated by a geodynamic (in
Earth’s case, the motion of molten iron alloys in its outer core).

The North and South magnetic poles wander widely, but sufficiently
slowly for ordinary compasses to remain useful for navigation. However,
at irregular intervals averaging several hundred thousand years, the
Earth’s field reverses and the North and South Magnetic Poles relatively
abruptly switch places. These reversals of the geomagnetic poles leave
a record in rocks that are of value to pale magnetisms in calculating
geomagnetic fields in the past. Such information in turn is helpful in
studying the motions of continents and ocean floors in the process of
plate tectonics.

The magnetosphere is the region above the ionosphere and extends

several tens of thousands of kilometers into space, protecting the Earth
from the charged particles of the solar wind and cosmic rays that would
otherwise strip away the upper atmosphere, including
the ozone layer that protects the Earth from harmful
ultraviolet radiation.
Earth’s magnetic field serves to deflect most of the
solar wind, whose charged particles would otherwise strip
away the ozone layer that protects the Earth from harmful
ultraviolet radiation. One stripping mechanism is for gas
to be caught in bubbles of magnetic field, which are ripped
off by solar winds.
 The intensity of the field is often measured in gauss (G),
but is generally reported in nano teslas (nT), with 1 G = 100,000
nT. A nano tesla is also referred to as a gamma (ã).The tesla is the
SI unit of the Magnetic field, B. The field ranges between
approximately 25,000 and 65,000 nT (0.25–0.65 G).

Near the surface of the Earth, its magnetic field can be

closely approximated by the field of a magnetic dipole positioned
at the center of the Earth and tilted at an angle of about 10° with
respect to the rotational axis of the Earth. The dipole is roughly
equivalent
 To a powerful bar magnet, with its South Pole pointing
towards the geomagnetic North Pole. The north pole of a magnet
is so defined because, if allowed to rotate freely, it points roughly
northward (in the geographic sense).Since the north pole of a
magnet attracts the south poles of other magnets and repels the
north poles, it must be attracted to the south pole
 ABOUT THE TOPIC
Tangent Galvanometer
A tangent galvanometer is an early measuring instrument
used for the measurement of electric current. It works by using A
compass needle to compare a magnetic field generated by the
unknown current to the magnetic field of the Earth. It gets its
name from its operating principle, the tangent law of magnetism,
which states that the tangent of the angle a compass needle
makes is proportional to the ratio of the strengths of the two
perpendicular magneticfields. It was first described by
ClaudePouilletin 1837.

A tangent galvanometer consists of a coil of insulated copper

wire wound on a circular non-magnetic frame. The frame is
mounted vertically on a horizontal base provided with leveling
screws. The coil can be rotated on a vertical axis passing through
its centre. A compass box is mounted horizontally at the centre of
a circular scale. It consists of a tiny, powerful magnetic needle
pivoted at the centre of the coil. The magnetic needle is free to
rotate in the horizontal plane. The circular scale is divided into
four quadrants. Each quadrant is graduated from 0° to
90°.Alongthinaluminium pointer is attached to the needle at its
centre and at right angle. To avoid errors due to parallax, a plane
mirror is mounted below the compass needle.
In operation, the instrument is first rotated until the magnetic
field of the Earth, indicated by the compass needle, is parallel
with the
plane of the coil. Then the unknown current is applied to the coil.
This creates a second magnetic field on the axis of the coil,
perpendicular to the Earth’s magnetic field. The compass needle
responds to the vector sum of the two fields, and deflects to an
angle equal to the tangent of the ratio of the two fields. From the
angle read from the compass’s scale, the current could be found
from a table.[2]The current supply wires have to be wound in a
small helix, like a pig’s tail, otherwise the field due to the wire will
affect the compass needle and an incorrect reading will be
obtained.

A tangent galvanometer can also be used to measure the

magnitude of the horizontal component of the geo magnetic
field. When used in this way, a low-voltage power source, such
as a battery, is connected in series with a rheostat, the galvano
meter, and ammeter. The galvanometer is first aligned so that
the coil is parallel to the geomagnetic field, whose direction is
indicated by the compass when there is no current through the
coils. The battery is then connected and the rheostat is adjusted
until the compass needle deflects 45 degrees from the
geomagnetic field, indicating that the magnitude of the magnetic
field at the center of the coil is the same as that of the horizontal
component of the geomagnetic field. This field strength can be
calculated from the current as measured by the ammeter, the
number of turns of the coil, and the radius of the coils.
 CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

When a bar magnet is suspended In two magnetic fields

Band Bh, it comes to rest making an angle è with the direction
of Bh.
 From Figure B= Bh tanè. This is known as tangent law of
magnetism. If è is the deflection of the needle, then
according to tangent law,
B=Bh tanè (1)

Let I be the current passing through the coil of radius a with n turns,
then the magnetic field generated by the current carrying coil is,

B = µ0nI/2a (2)(a is the

radius of the coil) Equating(1)and(2),we get,
Bh tanè=µ0nI/2a (3)
2aBh/µ0n=I/tan è (4)

The left hand side of equation (4) is a constant and is called the
reduction factor K of the given Tangent Galvanometer.
K=I/tan è (5)

Now from the equation (3)&(5),the horizontal intensity of Earth’s

magnetic field Bh is,
Bh= µ0nK/2a (6)

APPLICATIONS
 Tangent Galvanometer can be used to measure the
magnitude of the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field.

 The principle can be used to compare the galvanometer

constants.
 EXPERIMENT
Aim
 To determine the reduction factor of a
tangent galvanometer.

 To find the horizontal intensity of the

Earth’s magnetic field

Apparatus
Accumulator, Rheostat, Ammeter,
Commutator, Tangent Galvanometer

Principle & Formulae

 The reduction factor of T. GisK= I/tan
è,where I is the current flowing through the
T.G which produces the deflection è.
 The horizontal intensity of Earth’s magnetic field
at a place. Bh
= µ0nK/2r, where n is the number of turns of
the coil, µ0 = 4X3.14×10-7NA-2is the
permeability of free space, Kis the reduction
factor of the T.G and r is the radius of the coil
of the T.G.