A STUDY OF MAGNETIC FIELDS

Introduction
A compass is a magnet. Placed in a
region of space where there is a
magnetic feld the compass will align
with the external feld lines.
Specifcally, the compass will be
tangent to the feld lines at that point
in space in which it is placed. With
this in mind a compass can be used to
map out the feld lines that exists in
some region of space by noting the
direction of the compass needle a
many points. ur!es drawn such that
the compass directions are tangent to
them form, magnetic feld lines. "his
is analogous to the electric feld where
a test charge can be used to
determine electric feld lines.
An example of mapping out magnetic
feld lines is the placement of iron
flings around a magnet. #ach of the
iron flings acts li$e a small magnet
and, %ust li$e a magnet, line up with
the magnetic feld. "hat is, each fling
is tangent to the magnetic feld at that
point in space. "he flings are thus
li$e little compasses. &n the case of
the iron flings there are so many of
them that one can easily see the
shape of the feld lines. &n the
mapping you will do you will ha!e only
one compass 'rather than many
flings( placed at many di)erent points
on the table. *ou will ha!e to deduce
the pattern of feld lines by placing the
compass at many places and on a
separate piece of paper drawing the
compass directions at all the
locations.
&n this lab you will map out the feld
lines in a region of space that is the
entire region of your tabletop. "he
magnetic feld that exists on the
tabletop is due to the feld produce by
all magnets in the uni!erse. +ost
magnets are far enough away or are
wea$ enough that they will contribute
little to this feld. "wo felds that will
ha!e a signifcant e)ect are the
#arth,s magnetic feld and the feld
produced by a bar magnet that will be
supplied. "he magnetic felds you
obtain from your compass readings
will thus be the net magnetic feld
due to all magnetic felds. &t is most
li$ely that these two magnetic felds
will dominate, but e a!are that
there may be felds other than these
that could e)ect your results. *ou
must determine if this is the case.
"rocedure
lear your lab table of all items before
proceeding in order to help eliminate
items that may e)ect your compass
measurements.
When ta$ing compass readings you
may need to gently tap the compass
as friction may cause it to stic$ in
some positions.
-se one sheet of graph paper to
represent the entire area of the
tabletop. E#ce$t !here noted% ta&e
reading' o(er the entire area o)
the tale to$*
...............................
&. Ma$$ing the magnetic feld o)
the em$t+ tale*
a( -se a compass to map out the
magnetic fled lines o!er the
entire table. Present your results
on graph paper.
b( State what e)ect you expect the
#arth,s magnetic feld to ha!e on
your feld lines.
c( /ote and describe any de!iations
from what you expect from the
#arth,s magnetic feld.
&&. Ma$$ing a magnetic feld
around a ar magnet.
-se two sheets of graph paper. -se
one to represent the entire area of the
tabletop. -se the other to represent
an area 01x01 cm
2
centered on the
bar magnet. "he idea of the second
plot is to ha!e an expanded !iew of
the region around the magnet so it,s
magnetic feld can be drawn more
precisely that with the frst plot.
a( Place a bar magnet at the center
of your table and use a compass
to map out the magnetic fled
lines o!er the entire table.
b( 3eferring to your plots describe
your results. 4e sure to discuss
the e)ect of the #arth,s
magnetic feld, the feld due to
the bar magnet and any other
features seen.
&&&. Ma$$ing a magnetic feld
around t!o ar magnet' !ith
o$$o'ite $ole' neare't*
a( Place a two bar magnets at the
center of your table in a line
such that the north end of one is
closest to the south end of the
other and 21 cm away. -se a
compass to map out the
magnetic fled lines o!er the
entire table.

S5555/ S5555/
b( 3eferring to your plots describe
your results. 4e sure to discuss
the e)ect of the #arth,s
magnetic feld, the feld due to
the bar magnet and any other
features seen.
&6. Ma$$ing a magnetic feld
around t!o ar magnet' !ith li&e
$ole' neare't*
a( Place a two bar magnets at the
center of your table in a line
such that the north end of one is
closest to the south end of the
other and 21 cm away. -se a
compass to map out the
magnetic fled lines o!er the
entire table.

S5555/ /5555S
b( 3eferring to your plots describe
your results. 4e sure to discuss
the e)ect of the #arth,s
magnetic feld, the feld due to
the bar magnet and any other
features seen.
6. Setting u$ a magnetic feld
around com$a''.
7. 3emo!e all magnets from the
table.
2. Place a compass at the center
of a cleared table, fnd the
direction of the magnet feld,
,e, and align the 8ero degree
mar$ with the compass needle.
'/ote9 "he magnetic feld
should be mostly due to the
#arth,s magnetic feld, but it is
possible that other feld may
contribute noticeably.(
:. Place a bar magnet, ,7, next to
the compass with ,7 ,
e
.
;. With the ,7 orientation
unchanged mo!e ,7 away from
the compass until the compass
needle is 21 degrees from
north. +easure the distance,
x7, from the compass to the
midpoint of ,7.
...............................
6&. Mea'urement' of feld strength
along two axes.
7. Along the pole axis9
'a( At x7 rotate ,7 such that ,7
is parallel to ,e at the
compass.
'b( +aintaining its orientation,
mo!e ,2 away from the
compass and ,7. <or
di)erent positions record it,s
distance from the compass
and the absolute !alue of
the angular de=ection of the
compass. >o this o!er a
range of r !alues to the
edge of the table.
2. Along the axis to the pole axis.

'a( ?eeping ,7 in the same
position, mo!e the compass
to a position 21 cm from the
center of ,7 and on a line
with the poles of ,7.
'b( Place ,2, next to the
compass oriented with the
following conditions met9
i( "he poles of ,2 in line
with the center of the
compass and
ii( ,2 ,7 at the compass.
'c( +aintaining its orientation,
mo!e ,2 away from the
compass and ,7. <or di)erent
positions record it,s distance
from the compass and the
absolute !alue of the angular
de=ection of the compass.
>o this o!er a range of r
!alues to the edge of the
table.
6&&. Calculation' for radial
dependence of the feld strength.
7. We ha!e that the compass
direction of the needle gi!es
the total feld at the location of
the compass. "hus if the
compass needle is at an angle
from north, the total feld is
the !ector sum of ,e, ,7 @ ,2.
<or this study we ha!e not
changed the direction of ,7 so
the total feld due to ,7 and ,e
is a constant !ector which we,ll
call, ,7e. "he total feld at the
location of the compass is
therefore the !ector sum of ,7e
@ ,2 as is shown in fgure 7.

47e
4tot
42

<igure 7. "he net magnetic feld

due to the #arth,s magnetic feld,
47 and 42.
We ha!e
,
B1e
B2
tan =

or
tan 1 2 e B B =

Since 47e is constant we can write
this as

425 'constant(tan
2. We assume that 4 is
proportional to the distance
raised to some power. '<or
example the 4 due to a straight
current carrying wire is9
45 '&A2r(.
&n this example 4 is proportional to
r raised to the power of B7 '4 r
n,
where

n5B7(. <or our case we want to
fnd n for the bar magnet for the two
cases 'step 7 @ 2 in section &&&(.
&f we start by writing the general form9
4 5'constant(
.
r
n
,
we can eCuate this to our case for the
two felds and write9
'constant(
.
tan 5
'constant(
.
r
n
.
"he constants on either side are not
the same. <or a Cuantitati!e analysis,
where we would calculate absolute
!alues of the magnetic felds, we
would need to $now what these
constants are.
"hey in fact are needed to $eep the
units correct in this eCuation.
Dowe!er they are not needed to
determine the radial dependence of
the feld. "hat is, they are not needed
to determine the exponent, n. Eet,s
rewrite this eCuation as9
tan 5 ?
.
r
n
.

Dere ? contains the constants and the
units with which we are not concerned.
"his eCuation has the measured
!ariables, C, and r and thus we can
determine n.
6. Anal+'i'
7. <or each of the two data sets,
plot tan !s. r.
2. -sing the standard procedure of
logarithms, turn this eCuation
into the form of y5mxFb, where
m is the slope corresponding to
n in our eCuation. Plot the data
in this form, log'tan) !s. log'r(
and determine the slopes for
each of the two data sets.
:. +a$e a Cualitati!e statement
about the expected n !alues for
each case. "hat is, from your
feld maps from part & you ha!e
some idea as to how strongly
the feld !aries for the two data
sets. *ou should be able to state
in which case the feld will be
wea$er with increasing r
compared to the other case.

INST-UCTO-S NOTES
7. "he goal is to study how 4 falls o)
with distance along two axes. "he
purpose of using two magnets is to
ha!e an external 4 of comparable
magnitude.
2. "he poles of the magnet may not
be geometrically centered on the
bar. Gne wants to mo!e the
magnets along an axis
perpendicular to the axis of the
bar. "his axis can be found by
using the compass and fnding 4
parallel to the bar.