PHY 150/NY

TUTORIAL 6
MAGNETISM

1. Two identical bar magnets lie next to one another on a table. Sketch the magnetic field
lines if the north poles are at the same end.

2. A wire of length 0.655 m carries a current of 21.0 A. In the presence of a 0.470 T magnetic
field, the wire experiences a force of 5.46 N. What is the angle between the wire and the
magnetic field?
[57.63º @ 57.67º ]

3. A straight wire with a length of 0.65 m and mass of 75 g is placed in a uniform magnetic
field of 1.62 T. If the current flowing in the wire is perpendicular to the magnetic field,
calculate the current required to balance the wire? [ Given: g = 9.81 ms-2 ]
[ 0.70 A ]

4. From Figure 1, a wire carrying a 30 A current has a length 12 cm between the pole faces of
a magnet at an angle 60º. The magnetic field is approximately uniform at 0.90 T. We
ignore the field beyond the pole pieces. What is the magnitude of the force on the wire?

Figure 1
[ 2.81 N ]

5. What is the force per meter of length on a straight wire carrying a 9.40 A current when
perpendicular to a 0.90 T uniform magnetic field?
[ 8.46 Nm-1 ]

6. Calculate the magnitude of the magnetic force on a 240 m length of wire stretched between
two towers and carrying a 150 A current. The Earth’s magnetic field of 5.0 × 10-5 T makes
an angle of 68º with the wire.
[ 1.67 N ]

7. A 1.6 m length of wire carrying 4.5 A of current toward the south is oriented horizontally.
At that point on the Earth’s surface, the dip angle of the Earth’s magnetic field makes an
angle of 41º to the wire. Estimate the magnitude of the magnetic force on the wire due to
the Earth’s magnetic field of 5.5 × 10-5 T at this point.
[ 2.60 × 10-4 N ]

8. A straight wire of length 20 cm carries a current 10 A in a uniform magnetic field of

strength 5 mT. Determine the magnitude of the magnetic force on the wire if the angle
between the wire and the direction of the field is 60°.
[8.66 × 10-3 N]
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9. Find the magnetic force on each segment AB, BC and CD as shown in Figure 2 below.
Given B = 0.15 T and assume that the current, I in the wire is 5 A.
C
35o
B
16 cm 20 cm
I
A B D E
20 cm

Figure 2
[0 N , 0.12 N & 0.123 N]

10. Calculate the magnitude of the force on a proton travelling 3.1 × 107 ms-1 in the uniform
magnetic flux density of 1.6 Wbm-2,if :
a) the velocity of the proton is perpendicular to the magnetic field.
b) the velocity of the proton makes an angle 60 with the magnetic field.
[Given : charge of proton = +1.60 × 10-19 C]
[ 7.94 × 10-12 N , 6.87 × 10-12 N ]

11. A charge q1 = 25.0 μC moves with a speed of 4.5 × 103 ms-1 perpendicularly to a uniform
magnetic field. The charge experiences a magnetic force of 7.31 × 10-3 N. A second charge
q2 = 5.00 μC travels at an angle of 40.0o with respect to the same magnetic field and
experiences a 1.90 × 10-3 N force. Determine:
a) The magnitude of the magnetic field and
b) The speed of q2.
[ 0.065 T , 9.10 × 103 ms-1 ]

12. A proton travels with a speed of 3.0 × 106 ms-1 at an angle of 37° with the direction of a
magnetic field of 0.30 T in the +y direction. What are
a) the magnitude of the magnetic force on the proton and
b) the proton’s acceleration?
[Given : charge of proton = +1.60 × 10-19 C , mass of proton = 1.67 × 10-27 kg]

[ 8.67 × 10-14 N , 5.19 × 1013 ms-2 ]

13. An electron moves in a uniform magnetic field. At a particular instant the speed of the
electron is 3.0 × 106 ms-1 and the magnitude of the magnetic force acting on it is 5.0 × 10-13
N. The velocity of the electron makes an angle of 30º with the direction of the force.
Determine the magnitude of the magnetic field at that instant.
[ 2.08 T ]

14. Determine the magnitude of the force on an electron travelling 8.75 × 105 ms-1 horizontally
to the east in a vertically upward magnetic field of strength 0.45 T.
[ 6.30 × 10-14 N ]

15. An electron is projected from left to right into a magnetic field directed vertically
downward. The velocity of the electron is 2 × 106 ms-1, and the magnetic flux density of the
field is 0.3 T. Find the magnitude and direction of the magnetic force on the electron.
[Given : charge of an electron = - 1.60 × 10-19 C]
[ 9.6 × 10-14 N ]
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16. Determine the magnetic field strength at point X and Y from a long, straight wire carrying
a current of 5 A as shown below.

[ 5 × 10-5 T , 1.67 × 10-5 T ]

17. A circular coil having 400 turns of wire in air has a radius of 6 cm and is in the plane of the
paper. What is the value of current must exist in the coil to produce a flux density of
2 × 10-3 T at its center?
[ 0.48 A ]

18. A circular coil has 15 turns and a diameter of 45.0 cm. If the magnetic field strength at the
centre of the coil is 8.0 × 10-4 T, find the current flowing in the coil.
[ Given: µ0 = 4π x 10-7 Hm-1 ]
[ 19.10 A ]

19. An air-core solenoid with 2000 loops is 60 cm long. If a current of 5.0 A is sent through it,
what will be the flux density within it?
[ 0.021 T ]

20. A solenoid can carry a maximum current of 12 A. If it is to produce a field of flux density
0.28 T, how many turns per metre would the solenoid need?
[ 18568 turns per metre ]

21. Figure 3 shows the cross section of two conductors placed near each other. Each of two
conductors carries current, I into and out of the surface of the paper respectively. Draw the
magnetic field pattern produced by the current Iinto and Iout.

Figure 3

22. Two parallel straight wires 20 cm apart of each other carry currents in opposite directions.
Current IA = 6 A is out of the page and IB = 8 A is into the page. Find the magnitude of the
magnetic field halfway between the two wires.
[ 2.80 × 10-5 T ]

23. Two parallel straight wires 8 cm apart carry currents in opposite directions as in Figure 4.
Current I1 = 4.5 A is out of the page and I2 = 6.5 A is into the page. Determine the
magnitude and direction of the magnetic field at P, halfway between the two wires.

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P
I1 I2

8 cm

Figure 4
[ 5.50 × 10-5 T ]
24.

3.0 A 2.0 A

16 cm

Figure 5

Two long, parallel, vertical wires X and Y are 16 cm apart as shown in Figure 5. Both
wires carry current upwards. The current in X and Y are 3.0 A and 2.0 A respectively.
a) Compute the force on each meter length of the wire.
b) There is a neutral point between the two wires where the resultant magnetic field is
zero. How far is this point from wire X?
[ 7.5 × 10-6 Nm-1 , 0.096 m ]

25. A 20 turn’s rectangular coil with sides 6.0 cm × 4.0 cm is placed vertically in a uniform
horizontal magnetic field of magnitude 1.0 T. If the current flow in the coil is 5.0 A,
determine the torque acting on the coil when the plane of the coil is
a) perpendicular to the field
b) parallel to the field
[ 0.24 Nm , 0 ]

26. A circular coil of wire has a diameter of 20 cm and contains 10 loops. The current in each
loop is 3 A, and the coil is placed in a 2 T magnetic field. Determine the maximum and
minimum torque exerted on the coil by the field.
[ 1.88 Nm , 0 ]

27. A coil with area 5 × 10-3 m2 has 500 turns of wire. If this coil carries a current of 15 A and
placed in a magnetic field of 8 × 10-3 T, determine:
a) The maximum and
b) The minimum torques on the coil.
[ 0.30 Nm , 0 Nm ]

28. In a moving coil galvanometer, the coil of 400 turns has a rectangular shape of dimensions
5.0 cm × 6.0 cm. The radial magnetic field has a magnetic flux density of 0.12 T. Calculate
the maximum torque on the coil when a current of 0.022 A flows in it.
[ 3.17 × 10-3 Nm ]

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29. A coil of wire consisting of 200 turns has an area of 3.0 × 10-4 m2. The current in the coil is
0.065 A. The coil is then placed in a uniform magnetic field of magnitude 0.12 T.
Determine the maximum torque on the coil.
[ 4.68 × 10-4 N ]