Girraween High School

1.

Motors use the effect of forces

on current-carrying conductors
in magnetic fields

The force on a charged particle in a magnetic

field is given by:

F qvB sin q
F
B
q
v

is force,
is magnetic field strength,
is the charge,
is particle velocity,
being the angle between the direction of v
and the direction of the magnetic field

The force on a current carrying wire in a

magnetic field is given by:

F BIl sin q
F
B
I
l

is force,
is magnetic field strength,
is current,
is length of the wire within the field,
being the angle between the wire and the
direction of the magnetic field

But while it is easy to calculate the

magnitude of the force on the wire,
determining the direction is not obvious, so
we have an aid in the right hand rule.

F BIl sin q

You can visit these sites to learn more and practice with the right
hand rules:
http://www.phy.syr.edu/courses/video/RightHandRule/index2.html

http://www.phys.ufl.edu/~phy3054/magnet/mforce/rhr/Welcome.h
tml

Example

A 15 cm length of wire carrying a current of

2.5 A lies at an angle of 30 to a magnetic field
of 0.6 T. Calculate the force on the wire due to
+
the field.
I

L= 0.15 m
I = 2.5 A
B = 0.6 T
q = 30

F BIl sin q

30

0.6 2.5 0.15 sin 30

0.1125 N out of the page

A DC power line 250 m long is oriented NESW in

the Earths magnetic field that has a strength of
1.5 x 10-5 T in the northsouth direction (Hint: The
North Pole is a south pole and the South Pole is
a north pole). If the current carried by the
powerline is 150 A flowing from the NE calculate
the magnitude and direction of the force exerted
on the powerline due to the interaction of the
current carrying wire and the magnetic field.

Directed down

Two parallel current carrying wires exert forces on each

other:

I1 I 2
F kl
d
is force,

F
k
is the magnetic constant 2 x 10-7 T m A-1.
I1, I2 are the currents in the wires,
l
is length of the wires overlap,

d is the perpendicular distance between the wires

Example Problem 1
Find the magnitude and direction of the
magnetic force between two long parallel
conducting wires of length 2 m that are 0.1
m apart if both carry a current of 5 A when:
a)

The currents are in the same direction

b)

When the currents are in opposite

directions

repulsive

attractive

attractive

The direction of the currents dictates the direction of the force

Torque is defined as the turning moment of a

force:

Fd
F is the applied force
d is the perpendicular distance from the point
of application of the force to the axis of
rotation

Torque on a coil is defined as :

nBIA cos q
n is the number of turns in the coil
B is the magnetic field strength
I is the current flowing through the coil
A is the area of the loop
q is the angle between the magnetic field and the plane of
the coil.

 Fd sin q

Force and Torque on a Coil in a DC motor

1.5

0.5

Arbitary units 0
0

50

100

150

200

250

-0.5

-1

-1.5
force

torque

300

350

400

F BIl sin q

Angle between direction of wire

and direction of B field

nBIA cos q

Angle between direction

of plane of coil and
direction of B field

These angles are not the same, as

they lie in different planes!

You are to obtain an image of a DC Motor

and then label the following parts:

Brushes
Commutator
Coil or rotor loop

Tabulate the parts and their functions.

2.

The relative motion between a

conductor and magnetic field is
used to generate an electrical
voltage

Induction can be defined as a process where

one object with magnetic or electrical
properties can produce the same properties
in another object without making physical
contact.

Year of discovery 1831

Electromagnetic induction is the generation

of an emf and electric current through the
use of a magnetic field.

When the current was flowing through the

primary coil, the galvanometer moved.

When the current flows through the primary

coil a magnetic field is induced around that
coil. The second coil, which lies within this
magnetic field has electrons free to move
which feel the force of the motor effect. They
start to move, creating an electrical current.
When there is current flowing in the second
coil the galvanometer will move.

The word flux comes from the

Latin word fluo meaning flow.
Flux is a state of flowing or
movement.

In physics, flux is the

rate of flow of a fluid, radiation or
particles.

Magnetic flux, B, is the amount of magnetic

field passing through a given area. In the SI
system, B is measured in weber (Wb).

Symbol: B

The strength of a magnetic field, B, is also

known as the magnetic flux density. In the SI
system, B is measured in tesla (T) or weber
per square metre (Wb m2).

The generated potential difference is a

function of the time rate of change of the
applied magnetic field

The induced emf in a circuit is equal in magnitude

to the rate at which the magnetic flux through
the circuit is changing with time.

Faradays law can be written in equation form

as:

An induced emf always gives rise to a

current that creates a magnetic field
that opposes the original change in flux
through the circuit.

3.

Generators are used to

provide large scale power
production

Comparing a motor to a generator

The electrical resistance of the wires is a fixed

quantity.
Recall that

So power consumption by the wires is

proportional to 2 .

Re-do the previous calculation with the

voltage in the wire set at 110,000 Volts.

4.

Transformers allow generated

voltage to be either increased
or decreased before it is used

A transformer is a magnetic circuit with two

multi-turn coils wound onto a common core.

V
V

p
s

p
s

I
I

s
p

p
s

5.

Motors are used in industries

and the home usually to
convert electrical energy into
more useful forms of energy