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College of Engineering
General Physics Lab (PHYS 131)
Student Material
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Experimented by Omar alMutairi.

422115895

Experiment # 4
BIOT-SAVART’s Law I: The Straight Conductor

4.1 Introduction:
The infinitesimal magnetic field dB →at a point P produced by an infinitesimal length
ds → of a conductor traversed by a current I can be calculated from the following equation:

→ µ0 𝑑𝑠→ x𝑟 →
dB = 𝐼
4𝜋 𝑟3

µ0 𝑑𝑠 → xr→
= 𝐼
4𝜋 r2

µ0 𝑑𝑠 → x r→
𝐵→ = 𝐼∫ ( )
4𝜋 r2

Where µo is the permeability of free space, and 𝒓⃗ is the position vector separating
𝑑𝑠 → and the point P. This equation is known as the Biot-Savart’s law and it is straight forward
to evaluate for complicated shapes. We can calculate the total magnetic field only for
conductors with certain symmetries as line and loops.
In this experiment, we perform the BIOT-SAVART law for a straight conductor whose
magnetic field is given by:
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0 µ 𝐼
𝐵 = 2𝜋𝑟 (4.1)

Where I is the current (A), r is the distance between the point P and the axis of the conductor
(m), and µo is the permeability of the free space (4π x 10-7 T.m/A).

4.2 Objective:
• Determination of the magnetic field B of a straight conductor as a function of the
current I.
• Determination of the magnetic field B of a straight conductor as a function of the
distance from the axis of the conductor r.

4.3 Material Used:

High current power supply, Straight conductor, Tangential B-probe with a Hall sensor, and
Teslameter.

4.4 Experimental Set up:

Set up the experiment as shown in the Figure 1, with the following steps:
• Set the small optical bench [46043] up in the stand base [30001], and align it
horizontally.
• Mount the holder for plug-in elements (a) [46021] with a Leybold multiclamp
[30101].
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• Attach the holder for the straight conductor (b1), clamp a straight conductor
[516235] with a radius of (ro= 2 mm), and connect it to the high current power
supply [52155].
• Connect the tangential B-probe [51660] to the Teslameter [51662], and adjust the
zero of the Teslameter.
• Mount the tangential B-probe in multiclamp with the left edge of the multiclamp
lying at the scale mark 50 cm.
• Align the tangential B-probe with the middle of the straight conductor in height.
• Move the straight conductor toward the hall sensor (c1) so that it almost touches
the sensor (distance s = 0 mm).
• r is the distance between the point P at the center of the hall sensor C1 and the
center of the conductor (mm). s is the distance between the edge of the B-probe
and the surface of the conductor. The difference r–s = 3 mm is the sum of the
radius r0 = 2 mm of the straight conductor and the distance s0 = 1 mm between the
edge of the B-probe and the centre of the Hall sensor as shown in the Figure 1.
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Figure 1: Setup of the experiment.

4.5 Experimental work & results:

After setting up the experiment, perform the following:

4.5.1 Determination of the magnetic field B of a straight conductor as a function of the

current I

• At s = 0 mm & r = 3 mm, increase the current I from 0 to 20 A in steps of 2 A.

Each time, measure the magnetic field B, and record the measured values in Table
1 below.

I (A) B (mT)
0 0.000
2A 0.130mT
4A 0.270 mT
6A 0.400 mT
8A 0.510 mT
10A 0.640 mT
12 A 0.760 mT
14 A 0.910 mT
16 A 1.025 mT
18 A 1.150 mT

20 A 1.280 mT
Table 1: The magnetic field B of straight conductor as a function of current I.
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• Plot B in terms of I.

B (mT)
1.4
y = 0.0637x + 0.0061
1.2 Slope is= 0.0637
1

0.8
B (mT)

0.6 B (mT)

0.4 Linear (B (mT))

0.2

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
I (A)

Graph 1: The magnetic field B of straight conductor as a function of current I.

• Deduce the slope of the straight line from the graph.

𝑚𝑇
From the straight line in the graph the slope is =0.0637
𝐴

• Determine the experimental value of the permeability of the free space 𝝁𝒐 (exp).
µ0 𝐼
(4.1) state that B = , so 𝝁𝒐 (exp) = ( 2 𝝅 r ) . slope
2𝜋𝑟

µ0 (exp)= 2𝜋 ∗ (3 ∗ 10−3 ) ∗ 6.37 𝑇𝑚

𝐴
∗ 10−5 = 1.20209 ∗ 10−6
𝑇∗𝑚
𝐴

• Calculate the percentage error of 𝝁𝒐.

|µ(𝑒𝑥𝑝)−µ0 (𝑡ℎ)|
%𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 µ0 = ∗ 100
µ0 (𝑡ℎ)

|1.20209∗10−6 −4𝜋∗10−7 |
= ∗ 100 = 4.3%
4𝜋∗10−7

%Error 0f µ𝟎 = 4.3%
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4.5.2 Determination of the magnetic field B of a straight conductor as a function of the

distance from the axis of the conductor r
• At I = 20 A, move the B-probe to the right step by step, measure the magnetic
field B as a function of the distance r, and record the measured values in Table 2
below.
s (mm) r (mm) 𝒓⃗−𝟏 (𝒎−𝟏 ) B (mT)
0 mm 3 mm 333.33 𝑚−1 1.28 mT
1 mm 4 mm 250.00 𝑚−1 0.97 mT
2 mm 5 mm 200.00 𝑚−1 0.77 mT
3 mm 6 mm 166.67 𝑚−1 0.64 mT
4 mm 7 mm 142.86 𝑚−1 0.55 mT
5 mm 8 mm 125.00 𝑚−1 0.48 mT
6 mm 9 mm 111.11 𝑚−1 0.43 Mt
7 mm 10 mm 100.00𝑚−1 0.39 mT
8 mm 11 mm 90.91 𝑚−1 0.36 mT
9 mm 12 mm 83.33 𝑚−1 0.33 mT
10 mm 13 mm 76.92 𝑚−1 0.31 mT
15 mm 18 mm 55.56 𝑚−1 0.21 mT
20 mm 23 mm 43.48 𝑚−1 0.17 mT
25 mm 28 mm 35.71 𝑚−1 0.14 Mt
30 mm 33 mm 30.30 𝑚−1 0.11 mT
40 mm 43 mm 23.26 𝑚−1 0.09 mT

Table 2: The magnetic field B of straight conductor as a function of distance r.

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• Plot B in terms of r, and discuss the obtained results.

The magnetic field of straight conductor of a

distance r.
1.4
1.2
1
B (mT)

0.8
0.6
B (mT)
0.4
0.2
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
r (mm)

Graph 2: The magnetic field of straight conductor of a distance r.

The behavior of The function is decaying exponentially.

• Plot B in terms of r -1, and deduce the slope of the straight line from the graph.

The magnetic field of straight conductor of a

distance r^-1.
1.4
1.2 y = 0.0038x + 0.003
Slope= 0.0038
1
B (mT)

0.8
0.6 B (mT)
0.4 Linear (B (mT))
0.2
0
0 100 200 300 400
r^-1 (m^-1)

Graph 3 : The magnetic field of straight conductor of a distance 𝑟 −1

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𝒎𝑻
The slope = 0.0038
𝒎−𝟏

• Determine the experimental value of the permeability of the free space 𝝁𝒐 (exp).
µ0 𝐼 2𝜋
(4.1) state that B = , so µ0 (exP) = ∗ 𝑆𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 =
2𝜋𝑟 𝐼
2𝜋 𝑇𝑚
µ0 (exP) =
20
∗ 3.8 ∗ 10−6 = 1.1943 ∗ 10−6 𝐴

• Calculate the percentage error of 𝝁𝒐.

|µ𝟎 (𝒆𝒙𝒑)− µ𝟎 (𝒆𝒙𝒑)|

% Error of µ𝟎 = ∗ 𝟏𝟎𝟎 =
µ𝟎(𝒕𝒉)

|𝟏.𝟏𝟗𝟒𝟑∗𝟏𝟎−𝟔 −𝟒𝝅∗𝟏𝟎−𝟕 |
Error of 𝒖𝟎 = ∗ 𝟏𝟎𝟎 = 𝟓%
𝟒𝝅∗𝟏𝟎−𝟕

4.6 Conclusions
Write some comments & conclusions of the experiment in your words.

As we’ve experimented we induced that

the relationship between B as a function of I is directly proportional B ∝
I. But on the other hand, the relationship between B as a function of is r
𝟏
inversely proportional B ∝ .
𝒓⃗
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