College of Arts and Sciences

Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Department

Physics Program

Experimental Physics II for Engineering

PHYS 194
Session: L02 - CRN: 10271
Fall 2016

Earth’s magnetic field

Student’s Name: Abdulah Youssef Jarouf Student’s ID: 201506738

Partner’s Name: Abdullah Thabit Alyafei Partner’s ID: 201307354

Partner’s Name: Hassan Ali Al Muhsin Partner’s ID: 201306879

Lab Instructor: Huda Fadol ALyafei

Date Performed: November 14th, 2016

Date Submitted: November 25th , 2016

:GRADE

Objectives:

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The aim of this experiment is to produce a magnetic field in a coil and combine it with earth’s
magnetic field, and to measure the horizontal component of the earth’s magnetic field by
observing the position of a compass needle.

Introduction:
 A magnet is a material that has a north pole and a south pole, and produces a magnetic field.
 A magnetic field can be produced by the presence of electric current through a conductor.
 The magnetic field in the earth is produced by the motion of electrical currents through the
molten iron core by the friction within the molten. The electrical currents within the earth
cause earth to act like a big bar magnet.
 In order to calculate the horizontal component of earth’s magnetic field, the magnitude of
the field produced by the coil should be calculated first, which is perpendicular to the
horizontal component of earth’s magnetic field, and given by:
Bcoil =μ0 ∋ ¿ ¿
2R
 The magnitude of the horizontal component of earth’s magnetic field is then given by:
Bh=Bcoil ×cotθ=μ 0∋ ¿ ×cotθ ¿
2R
Bh= AI × cotθ
Bh
 By Drawing a graph of 1/I vs. cot, the slope will be equal to .
A

Experimental Apparatus and Procedure:

Power supply compass multimeters cupper coil

Steps:
1-Measure the radius of the coil, and its uncertainty.
2-Count the number of turns of the coil used.
3-Check that the needle of the compass is at the center (at angle zero).
4-Make sure that the compass magnet is in the plane of the coil.
5-Set the current to the given values, and measure the angle of derivation for the needle.

Experiment Data:

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 1 -1
I ± 0.01 (A) θ ± 1 (A )
I Cot (θ)
0.10 9
10 6.31
0.15 11
6.667 5.144
0.25 20
4 2.75
0.4 32
2.5 1.6
1.00 56
1 0.674

Graphs:
Earth’s magnetic field
7
f(x) = 0.66 x + 0.12
6 R² = 0.97
5

4
cot(θ)

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12

1/𝐼 (A-1)

*Linest function for the graph:

Slope 0.656793 0.121055 Intercepts
ERR slope 0.062474 0.361809 ERR intercepts
R2 0.973574 0.445672 ERR Bars

Calculations and analysis:

2
d (cotθ )
√
∆ ( cotθ ) = (
dθ
×∆ θ) = √¿ ¿ ¿

1 2

1 -1
1
∆ =
I √ (
d( )
Id
I

1
∆ I
× ∆ I )= 2
I

(A ) Cot (θ) ∆ Cot (θ) ∆ (A-1)

I I
10 6.31 1.070661 1.00
6.667 5.144 0.001213 0.25
4 2.75 0.006782 0.11
2.5 1.6 0.001001 0.04
1 0.674 0.002564 0.02

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 Bh=slope × A=0.735× 6.28 ×10−5 =4.13 ×10−5 T

Uncertainty on Bh.
∆ Bh=∆ slope × A=0.122 ×6.28 ×10−5=7.59 ×10−6 T

Conclusion:
In this experiment, we have calculated the horizontal component of the earth’s magnetic field,
and obtained the result to be equal to ( 4. 13 ×10−5 T ). While the actual value in Qatar is ( 4 /4.5 × 10−5 T
). Different regions on earth have different values for the horizontal component. However, the difference
between our calculated value and the actual value is small, with an error percentage of 8%, this
percentage might have occurred due to an error in the apparatus used, or inaccuracy in conducting the
experiment, such as the initial position of the compass needle which might not be exactly at the center.
5 −5
lautca eulav
detaluclac eulav .4 5×01 −2−1.4 ×01
rorrE% =| −
lautca eulav
expmntl 2 2
|
0×01 %=
5.4 ×01 −5
001 %=2.8 %
×

〖(bh ¿ ¿ th−bh ¿)
2 = th 2 expmntl
¿<3
( ∆ bh ) +〖 ∆ bh ¿¿
2 = 0.24 < 3  the values of n are almost the same

References:
a. PHYS 194 Manual, p18, p30-32.
b. Error propagation file.
c. Internet sources: Wikipedia.
d. http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag-web/#igrfwmm

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