Analysis

Experiment 401 is divided into two parts. The first part of the experiment dealt with the
magnetic field lines while the second part showed the magnetic force on an object. By scattering
the iron fillings on top of a bond paper with two magnets underneath it, we were able to graph
the magnetic field lines between the two objects. Placing the two positive poles next to each
other would form magnetic fields that do not intersect with each other. This is because both of
them are like poles so they tend to repel each other. However, by situating the two opposite sides
of the magnets next to one another, it can be clearly seen that they are attracted to each other.
The unlike poles tend to stick to each other. It can be observed that their magnetic lines connect
and loops around the two magnets. The latter part of the experiment is divided into four parts.
The first three parts of the second part of the experiment goes through similar procedures, their
only difference is that Part A changes its number of magnets, Part B changes its current charge,
and Part C has its length of loop non-constant. For the Part D, we used a current balance
accessory because this part requires us to constantly change the angle of the coil. In this part of
the experiment it can be observed that by varying these factors, the magnetic force being exerted
on the magnet assembly changes. It alters the original weight of the object by exerting a push on
the target resulting in a much bigger weight value.

In relation to the theory of magnetic field that declares that two opposites prefer to
magnetize one another, doing this experiment helped prove to us that this is indeed true.
Immediately after being handed out the two magnets it was prominent that when the north pole
and the south pole are placed to each other, the magnets pull on each other and stick together. A
stronger attraction force makes it much more difficult to pull them apart. However no matter how
hard you try to place two like poles next to one another, it wouldn’t workout because they push
against one another especially if both have strong magnetic forces.
Conclusion
Experiment 401 introduced two theories: the magnetic force and the magnetic field. The
first theory, the magnetic force, occurs whenever two or more objects interact with one another
and results into the objects either pulling or moving away from each other. This is because
certain objects have a particular charge in them that when placed near another object, containing
either the same or opposite charge, will produce attraction or repulsion depending on the charges
on the two objects. There are two charges to consider here: the positive charge and the negative
charge. We can describe them by saying that the positive charge is the one that exudes force
while the negative charge absorbs them. The magnetic force is interrelated with the second
theory, the magnetic field. Magnetic fields are created by the moving electric charges. They are
used to map out the rotating charges within a space. It displays the impact of an object with
magnetic attributes.

For the first part of the experiment, we used iron fillings and two magnets to display the
magnetic force and magnetic field. By placing the two magnets next to each other, we were able
to plot out their magnetic field lines by scattering the iron filling on the bond paper placed on the
two magnets. We saw that by placing the end poles of the magnets in different combinations, the
magnetic field lines also change. Part 2 of the experiment proved to us the existence of magnetic
force. By changing the number of magnets, current setting, length of current loop, and
orientation of the coil, we were able to compute for the magnetic force in Newton. We saw that
the magnetic force affects the weight of the object by either exerting a pulling force on it to make
it lighter or producing a pushing force on it to make it heavier.

We could have been able to give out much better results if only we were given more iron
filling for the experiment. The lack of iron fillings made the plotting of the magnetic field lines
much more difficult. Another recommendation I have is to make sure that when doing the part d
of the second part of the experiment, make sure that the assembly is parallel to the wires of the
coil. The magnet assembly tends to move when setting up the current balance accessory unit.
Applications
There are numerous applications of magnetic fields and magnetic forces in our everyday
lives. Here are some of them:
• Electromagnets - The archetype electromagnet is the crane-operated model that picks up
automobiles and scrap metal by the ton. This model demonstrates one of the desirable
features of the electromagnet--it becomes a magnet or not a magnet at the flip of a switch.
The electric current running around an iron core aligns the iron atoms to make the iron
core a magnet. A smaller application is the doorbell where an electromagnet moves a
striker to hit the bell. Speakers are another application of electromagnets.
• Motors- Motors use magnetic fields to rotate a shaft. As the electric current going to the
motor varies--all generated currents do, it causes the rising and falling magnetic fields to
push the core of the motor around. Motors are ubiquitous--at least a dozen are in your car,
there is one in every appliance, there is one in your computer to turn the hard drive, and
there is one in the automatic door at the supermarket.
• Information Storage- When a tiny electromagnet is moving over an area on a magnetic
data storage medium, it will leave a magnetized spot if the electromagnet is turned on and
no magnetized spot if the electromagnet is turned off. Later a loop of wire is rapidly
moved past the spot and the field from the magnetized spot will induce a tiny electric
current.
• Magnetic Levitation - Magnetic levitation, or Maglev, applies a property of disk drives to
electric trains. If a train can ride just above the rail, on a magnet field, there will be very
little friction and it will be easy to move the train. Naturally, the train could then run very
fast. This is how the Japanese bullet train--Shinkansen--works.
• Mass Spectrometer - The mass spectrometer involves three steps. First the ions are
accelerated to a particular velocity; then just those ions going a particular velocity are
passed through to the third and final stage where the separation based on mass takes
place.
• The Hall Effect - Another good application of the force exerted by moving charges is the
Hall effect. The Hall effect is very interesting, because it is one of the few physics
phenomena that tell us that current in wires is made up of negative charges. It is also a
common way of measuring the strength of a magnetic field.

References:
https://sciencing.com/uses-magnetic-fields-6910125.html
http://physics.bu.edu/py106/notes/MagApps.html