PHYSICS INVESTIGATORY

PROJECT ON

“VERIFICATION OF LENZ LAW USING A

MAGNET AND COPPER AND PVC PIPES”

SUBMITTED BY:
Ksshitij Chopra
XII-A

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

MS. KIRTI SAINI

SESSION: 2022–23
BIRLA VIDYA NIKETAN
PUSHP VIHAR, NEW DELHI-110017
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work being presented in

the project report entitled ‘’VERIFICATION OF
LENZ LAW USING A MAGNET AND COPPER AND
PVC PIPES’’ is an authentic record of my own work
carried out under the supervision of Ms. Kirti Saini,
Physics Department, Birla Vidya Niketan, Pushp
Vihar, New Delhi.
 INDEX

1. CERTIFICATE

2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

3. AIM

4. INTRODUCTION

5. THEORY

6. MATERIAL REQUIRED

7. PROCEDURE

8. OBSERVATIONS

9. CALCULATIONS

10. RESULTS

11. PRECAUTIONS

12. BIBLIOGRAPHY
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that KSSHITIJ CHOPRA, a

student of class XII-A, roll no:6, under my guidance
and supervision, has carried out work embodied in
this project entitled “VERIFICATION OF LENZ
LAW USING A MAGNET AND COPPER AND PVC
PIPES”. The method of work and performance was
found to be genuine to the best of my knowledge.

Ms. Kirti Saini

Birla Vidya Niketan
Pushp Vihar,
New Delhi-110017
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is hereby to certify that, the original and

genuine investigation work has been carried out to
investigate about the subject matter and the
related data collection and investigation has been
completed solely, sincerely and satisfactorily by
Ksshitij Chopra of Class XII –A of BIRLA VIDYA
NIKETAN, Pushp Vihar-IV, New Delhi – 110017
regarding his project titled :- “VERIFICATION OF
LENZ LAW USING A MAGNET AND COPPER AND
PVC PIPES”
AIM: To verify Lenz Law using a magnet and copper
and pvc pipes

INTRODUCTION:
It is 1834, and you have just
heard of this marvelous new
phenomenon called eddy
currents. Some fellow named
Lenz discovered them, and
you’re curious if you can find
out something special about
them yourself. The friend who
mentioned it to you said that
some interesting things
happened when magnets and
copper pipes interacted, which
is strange, because copper isn’t
magnetic.
THEORY:
Lenz’s law, in electromagnetism, statement that
an induced electric current flows in a direction such
that the current opposes the change that induced
it. This law was deduced in 1834 by the Russian
physicist Heinrich Friedrich Emil Lenz (1804–65).
Thrusting a pole of a permanent
bar magnet through a coil of wire, for example,
induces an electric current in the coil; the current
in turn sets up a magnetic field around the coil,
making it a magnet. Lenz’s law indicates the
direction of the induced current. (The direction of
the induced current from Lenz’s law contributes
the minus sign in Faraday’s law of induction.)
Because like magnetic poles repel each other, Lenz’s
law states that when the north pole of the bar
magnet is approaching the coil, the induced current
flows in such a way as to make the side of the coil
nearest the pole of the bar magnet itself a north
pole to oppose the approaching bar magnet. Upon
withdrawing the bar magnet from the coil, the
induced current reverses itself, and the near side
of the coil becomes a south pole to produce an
attracting force on the receding bar magnet.
A small amount of work, therefore, is done in
pushing the magnet into the coil and in pulling it out
against the magnetic effect of the induced current.
The small amount of energy represented by this
work manifests itself as a slight heating effect, the
result of the induced current
encountering resistance in the material of the coil.
Lenz’s law upholds the general principle of
the conservation of energy. If the current were
induced in the opposite direction, its action would
spontaneously draw the bar magnet into the coil in
addition to the heating effect, which would violate
conservation of energy.
MATERIALS REQUIRED:
1) Copper pipe
2) Aluminum cookie sheet
3) String
4) Small neodymium magnet

PROCEDURE:
1. Touch your magnet to your various materials to
confirm that they’re not magnetic.
2. Take your magnet and drop it from about the
height of your PVC pipe onto something soft.
3. Now, drop it through your Copper pipe from
the same height as in the previous case.
4. Note down the time taken by the magnet to
fall in both the cases. Compare the timings in
both the cases.
5. Repeat this 3 times for each pipe.
 OBSERVATIONS:
 Height from which magnet is dropped= cm
 Diameter of Copper pipe= inches
 Diameter of PVC pipe= inches
 Length of Copper pipe= inches
 Length of PVC pipe= inches

OBSERVATION TABLE

P.T.O
OBSERVATION TABLE

S.No Pipe Used Height from Time taken

. which magnet by the
is dropped magnet to
(cm) fall (s)
COPPER
1

PVC

Calculations:
  Average time taken by magnet to fall through
Copper pipe= (t1+t2+t3)/3= s
= s
 Average time taken by magnet to fall through
PVC pipe= (t1+t2+t3)/3= s
= s
Result:
When you drop your magnet through a copper pipe,
it slows down. On the other hand, it takes lesser
time when dropped through a PVC pipe.
In the experiment performed, the magnetic took
seconds to fall through the copper pipe and
seconds to fall through the PVC pipe.

Conclusion:
Magnetic fields are the result of electric currents.
Changing a magnetic field (moving a magnet) next
to a non-magnetic metal will induce an electric
field (a voltage difference) in the metal, which
subsequently generates a magnetic field with an
opposite orientation with respect to your magnet.
When your magnet moves next to a metal it
creates these fields, but the fields act in a very
specific way. They want to cancel out the magnetic
field in the metal, because metals don’t like having
electric or magnetic fields inside of them (that’s
why electricity flows through metals easily—
they’re trying to cancel out the difference in
electric potential by moving electrons around!).
This phenomenon is known as Lenz Law.
The magnetic field induced in the metal attracts
the falling magnet, creating resistance. This
resistance is what slowed down your magnet. As
your magnet slows down, it stops generating as
much current, which reduces the resistance acting
on the magnet’s movement. Gravity speeds the
magnet back up again until it reaches a happy
medium speed. Basically, your magnet is creating a
whirlpool of electrons around it as it falls through
your pipe.
Thus, the magnet takes more time to reach the
surface (ground) when dropped through a copper
pipe as compared to when it is fallen through a
PVC pipe.

Precautions:
1. The pipes should be in a proper condition.
2. The magnet should be of proper strength and
not worn out.
3. The magnet should be dropped from the same
height in both the cases.
4. The magnet should not be exposed to any other
forces during the fall.

Bibliography:

 SL Arora Physics Class XII Book-1

 Concepts of Physics Volume II by HC
Verma
 Pradeep’s Fundamental Physics Class XII
 All in One Physics for class XII