Quiz 2

Will be returned in studio.

Many of you got clobbered.
We teach EP2 to the international standards for
engineering and science.
We will not change this.
Fishing for equations does not work. Many of you must
up your game.
EP2 requires a serious intellectual investment. If you
make that investment, you will do fine.
Leaving lecture early, browsing your phone during
lecture, failing to put serious effort into homework, never
attending office hoursthese comprise a path to ruin.

Quiz 2-redemption
Well provide a one-time second shot at Quiz 2, this
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 4:30-5:30 in CW101, 102, 103
lecture halls.
Note the time: 60 minutes, not 75 minutes.
The problem solving part of Quiz 2 will be re-presented
in a multiple choice format to spare my graders.
The four problems will be substantially the same as Quiz
2, but not identical copies.
48 points-max. The higher of the retake and the original
will be used for your grade.
You can stick with your original score if you like. This
Friday is optional.

Electromagnetism in one slide

Electric charges q establish electric fields E everywhere
in space.
An electric charge experiences am electric force FE=qE,
where E is the electric field at the charges position, and
q is the magnitude of the charge.
Moving electric charges result in electric currents;
electric currents establish magnetic fields B everywhere
in space.
A moving charge q experiences a magnetic force
FB=qvB, with v the velocity of the charge and B the
magnetic fields at the location of the charge.
Magnetic fields can also be established by time-varying
electric fields. Likewise, electric fields result from timevarying magnetic fields. These coupled effects produce
electromagnetic waves.

Magnetic forces and fields

Electric currents establish magnetic fields B. The unit of
B is the Tesla(T). Also commonly used is the Gauss(g),
1 T=104 g. For reference, the earths magnetic field is
Be510-5 T=0.5g.
Moving charged objects experience a magnetic force
FB=qvB, where q=charge, v=velocity, and B=magnetic
field. As per the cross product rule, FBv and FB B.
FB=0 if q=0 or v=0 or B=0 or vB.
This week we will assume that we can somehow
produce any B-field we care to use, using something we
will loosely call a magnet.

Earths magnetic field

The field lines emerge from the magnetic
north pole, which is in Antarctica! They
enter the magnetic south pole, in Canada.
The magnetic poles wander around, vary
over time in strength, and reverse
directions over intervals of 104-106 years.
The explanation for this has something to
do with the rotations of the iron-rich core
of the earth, but the details remain an
open question.
Note that B-field lines follow similar rules
as E-field lines. The field is largest when
lines are close together.

Cosmic Rays

A.
B.
C.
D.

Suppose a proton P is headed at us from outer space (a

cosmic ray) in the direction shown. Which way will the
earths field deflect it?
North.
South
East
P
West

How B saves our bacon

Energetic protons and electrons constantly stream

outward from the sun.
Earths B-field sweeps most of these away, greatly
diminishing our exposure to ionizing radiation and
preventing our atmosphere from being stripped away (as
happened on Mercury, Mars, and the moon).

Dust in the wind

A.
B.
C.
D.

Suppose a dust cloud over our heads has acquired a

negative charge via friction and is drifting from east to
west. Which way will the magnetic force act on the dust
cloud?
Up.
Down.
North.
South.

Motion of charged particle in constant B-field

Write Newtons 2nd Law: mdv/dt=qvB.
Split v into two parts, one parallel to B, v, and one
perpendicular to B, v: v= v+ v.
Since vB=0, dv/dt=0, and v=constant.
How about v? We have a force that is always at right
angles to the velocity. This force cannot change the
speed (by the Work-Energy principle).
This is centripetal acceleration, with aC=v2/R. From
above, this is also aC=qvB/m. Comparing the two, we
have mv=p=qBR.
This is the spectrometer equation. A charged object with
a momentum transverse to B, p, will move in a circle of
radius R= p/qB.

Combination motion
The period for one complete circle is
T=2pR/v=2pm/qB. Notice that this is
independent of the speed.
The combined motion in the parallel and
perpendicular directions follows a curve
called a helix (corkscrew).
If the direction of B changes slowly, the
helix will follow the direction of the field,
much like a bent slinky.
On earth this causes the B-fields to
focus charged particles from the sun
onto the poles.

The Auroras
Under the right conditions, the streams of charged
particles can ionize the air, producing the northern or
southern lights (aurora borealis and aurora australis).
A strong solar wind can push the northern lights
occasionally down to Kansas.

Force on a current-carrying wire

Every charge q is the wire moving at the constant drift
velocity vD will experience a force fB=qvDB.
Now just count up the moving charges. If the wire has
length L and cross sectional area A, this can be written
as N=nAL, where n is the number density of the charge
carriers.
The total force is then FB=NfB=L(nqvD)AB. Recognize
nqvD as the current density J, and (nqvD)A as JA=I the
current.
The force on the wire is then FB=ILu B, where u is a
unit vector that points in the direction of the current flow.
Lu is often written as the vector L.

Force on a current loop or circuit

Current very often flows in complete circuits. The force on
such a circuit from a constant magnetic field is zero!
The easy way to see this is that for every piece of wire in a
circuit carrying current I to the right, for example, there must
be another piece carrying the current to the left in a
complete circuit. These two pieces will experience magnetic
forces that cancel.
More formally, we can write the magnetic force as

FB I dr B

This is zero because the sum of displacements around a

closed path must be zero.

A cute observation: the force on a length of

wire of any shape
In a constant B-field, the force on any piece of wire in a
plane that does not cross itself is just FB=IDBtB, where
D is the distance between the ends of the wire, and t is a
unit vector that points from the end where the current
comes in to the end where it goes out.

I
I

A velocity selector
The total electromagnetic force
experienced by a charged particle is
F=q(E+vB).
If we arrange for vEB, a geometry
called crossed E and B fields, then
we can find the condition for
equilibrium, F=0.
This occurs when v=-E/B.
If we send in a beam of charged
particles, this beam will be deflected
except when v=-E/B. E and B select
the velocity.

A mass spectrometer

A measurement of r determines the charge-to-mass

ratio q/m. This is often enough to identify an ion.

Force on a current-carrying wire

Every charge q is the wire moving at the constant drift
velocity vD will experience a force fB=qvDB.
Now just count up the moving charges. If the wire has
length L and cross sectional area A, this can be written
as N=nAL, where n is the number density of the charge
carriers.
The total force is then FB=NfB=L(nqvD)AB. Recognize
nqvD as the current density J, and (nqvD)A as JA=I the
current.
The force on the wire is then FB=ILu B, where u is a
unit vector that points in the direction of the current flow.
Lu is often written as the vector L.

The Hall Effect

Consider current moving through a flat strip of
thickness d and width w.
A magnetic field perpendicular to the strip will push
the charge carriers to one side due to a force of
magnitude qvDB.
This will create a charge difference across the strip
that results in an electric field that balances the
magnetic field.
We can write this field as E=VH/w, and we have
VH=wvDB=wJB/nq=wdJB/nqd=IB/nqd.
By measuring VH, I, and B, we can determine n.
The sign of VH determines the sign of the charge
carriers.
If we know n, as we do for common materials, we
can use measurements of I and VH to determine B
with a device called a Hall probe.