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Mr. Kanisorn Khuphiran Student ID 6234203723

A simple measurement of gravity based on Faraday’s law of induction

Mr. Kanisorn Khuphiran

Student ID 6234203723
Faraday’s law of induction is a simple principle in which phenomenon of
voltage induced in a loop of wire while a magnet is passing is explained.
In a free-falling case of a magnet through a coil, the change in magnetic
flux is very abrupt but detectable with good instruments. The exact moment
that the abrupt change, a peak, occurs can be approximated as the moment
when the falling magnet is passing through a coil. With this, the time that a
magnet is taken to move a certain distance to reach a certain coil can be
measured. The experiments were done for three different-sized magnets.
The value of gravity is estimated using free-falling consideration. It was
found that the estimated value was best according to the accepted value
when the largest magnet was used. This is due to the greater dominance of
weight over drag force acting on the larger magnet, compared to the
smaller one. However, the average value of gravity was not too far from
the accepted one. It had 86% accuracy and 95% precision.

Keywords: Faraday-Lenz law, gravity, free-fall

1. INTRODUCTION where Φ0 is an initial total

Measurement of gravity is arguably the best
introduction to physics experiment which in turns
put us to the realization of a physics’ principle
governing nature. In this experiment, the
measurement of gravity is used to introduce a
way to sense the location of a moving magnet
using a coil and the Faraday’s law of induction.
1.1 Theory
When a magnet is passing through a coil, the
magnetic flux through a coil is also changing.
The voltage is then induced in the coil to
correspond negatively to the change in magnetic
flux. This is called “Faraday-Lenz law” and can
be stated more precisely using equation:
(1)
where ε is an induced voltage and
Φ is a total magnetic flux, which is a
sum for dot products of magnetic field and areal
vector over a total surface of an enclosed curve.
With equation 1, a magnetic flux can be
expressed by an integral as:
(2)
magnetic flux which is normally
constant. So, it might as well be set to
zero.
Our experimental scheme is as
shown in the figure 1 where a magnet
is dropped from the top to free-fall
along a cylinder attached with six
identical coils at roughly step-sized
heights. In the free-fall consideration,
the motion of a magnet is due only to
Figure 1:
gravity. Hence, the position of a
a cylinder magnet at any time t can be expressed
with coils in the equation,
(3)
where s is a magnet’s position at time t,
g is a gravitational acceleration and
t0 is an exact time when a magnet
was dropped. In this experiment, a linear
regression method will be used to determine g.
Equation 2 can be rearranged as
(4)
where a plot of and will be a straight line
with as its slope and as its y-
intercept. Estimated value of g and t0 can be
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Mr. Kanisorn Khuphiran Student ID 6234203723

calculated from the estimated value of the slope recording. The data table on the left panel of
and y-intercept as: CASSY LAB program is then copied to the
and . (5) EXCEL program for further analysis.
4. Task in 3. is repeated for all three different-
where m and c are the estimated values for slope
sized magnets and also for the opposite side of a
and y-intercept of a linear trend line in the plot of
magnet. In the end, there will be a total of six
and . The maximum propagation errors can
records(three sizes x two sides). Each record may
be calculated as:
be put in a different data sheet in EXCEL for
, convenience.
(6)
5. In EXCEL, for each record, the voltage
2. EXPERIMENT signal is subtracted by its own average which is
approximately equal to the ambient signal. The
Experiment is separated into three parts. In the
plot of the induced voltage over time is then
first part, a position and a length of each coil are
created and discussed.
measured. In the second part, a total induced
2.3 Estimation of a gravity and a dropping
voltage is recorded for six different cases(three
time
sizes x two sides). In the last part, data in the
1. In EXCEL, for each record, a column of a
previous two parts is used to estimate value of a
magnetic flux at each time is created by first
gravity and a dropping time for each case.
setting initial magnetic flux to zero and having
2.1 Measurement of a position and a length of
the next magnetic flux equal to minus induced
each coils
voltage times the time interval. The plot of a
1. A metal ruler is used to measure position of the
magnetic flux over time is then created and
first coil from the top.
discussed.
2. A scale along the cylinder is used to measure
2. In EXCEL, for each record, a column is
distance between first coil from the top to five
created so that the value in each row equals to the
other coils. Measured distance is then added up to
time in that row if the magnitude of the magnetic
the position found in 1 to obtain position for each
flux is greater than 0.5 and the magnetic flux is
coils.
the extreme around six nearest neighbors,
3. A metal ruler is used to measure the length of
otherwise it will return zero. The data sheet is
each coils.
then filtered by this column for value greater than
4. Each measurements is done for 3 times. The
zero. There will be six rows left. Each row from
average values and errors are then calculated.
top to bottom corresponds to the time it takes a
2.2 Measurement of a total induced voltage
magnet to reach each coil. This column of six
1. Each coil is wired to one another in series.
rows is then copied to another sheet for
The ends are connected to an input terminal of a
convenience in doing further analysis.
Sensor-CASSY box connected to a computer to
3. In EXCEL, a column of square root of position
which it will transmit the voltage signal.
of each coil is created. Then, the plot of and
2. CASSY LAB software is installed and run
is created with data from all six records. The
in the computer. Then, it is set to receive signal
linear trend line is then added separately for each
from the Sensor-CASSY box and monitor the
record. The slope and y-intercept with error are
voltage signal on the input terminal. The voltage
calculated using LINEST function.
range is set to [-1,+1]. The sampling period is set
4. In EXCEL, for each record, the value of
to 0.02ms. The no. of points to record is set to
gravity and dropping time with error are
16000. And the recording is set to be triggered
calculated using equation 5 and 6.
when a signal passed some threshold(may be set
5. In EXCEL, a column of time is created to have
to 0.003) that is greater than the size of the
values of 0,1,…,320 ms. A column of
ambient signal.
displacement is created by typing formula of
3. A “CLOCK” icon is clicked to start
s=gt2/2 using 9.80665 ms-2 as a value of g and the
recording. Then, a magnet is dropped from the
values in the column of time as the values of t.
top of the cylinder. Make sure the record show all
The plot of s vs. t is then created. For every
six complete alternating pulse signal. The
record, a curve of s vs. t where s is calculated
“CLOCK” icon is then clicked again to stop the
from equation 3 with g and t0 being the estimated
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Mr. Kanisorn Khuphiran Student ID 6234203723

values from 4 is added to the plot. The plot is

small magnet, unmarked side down
used to discuss the diversion of the experimental 0.1
results to the theoretical consideration. 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION -0.1

3.1 Key features of an induced voltage plot

Magnetic flux / V.ms

-0.2

and a magnetic flux plot -0.3

-0.4
medium magnet, marked side down -0.5
1
-0.6
0.8
-0.7
0.6
-0.8
Induced voltage / V

0.4
-0.9
0.2 time / ms
0

-0.2
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
large magnet, unmarked side down
0.5
-0.4

-0.6 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
-0.8

Magnetic flux / V.ms

-1 -0.5
Time / ms
-1
medium magnet, marked side down
2.5 -1.5

2 -2
Magnetic flux / V.ms

1.5
1 Figure 3: Magnetic flux plots for a small magnet
0.5
0
0 50 100 150 200 250
-0.5
time / ms
Figure 2: an induced voltage plot (above) and a
magnetic flux plot (below) for a medium-sized
magnet falling down a cylinder with marked side
down
In the figure 2, it can be concluded that the key
features of each plot are:
• Time interval between each peak
decreases as the time goes. This is due to
a magnet sped up as it went through a
cylinder.
• The width-span of each peak is narrower
as the time goes. Again, this is due to a
magnet sped up.
• The magnitude of a induced voltage
increases as the time goes. This is also
due to a magnet is sped up.
• The magnitude of a magnetic flux stays
constant as the time goes. This makes
sense because the strength of magnetic
field created by a magnet and the area
enclosed by each coil never change.
3.2 Effects of a magnet’s size
-2.5
time / ms
(above) and a large magnet (below) falling down a
cylinder with an unmarked face
In the figure 3, it can be concluded that the
300 350
effects of magnet’s size are
• Width of each peak is wider for a larger
magnet. This is due to it takes longer for a
larger magnet to completely pass through
a coil. This could suggest that a smaller
magnet will give higher resolution to the
position of a magnet as the peak is sharper
than that of a larger magnet.
• The magnitude of magnetic flux is higher
for a larger magnet. This is due to that a
larger magnet is long enough to totally
cover the length of a coil resulting in
higher magnetic flux despite having the
same magnetic material.
3.3 Estimated value of gravity and dropping
time
Table 1 : Estimated values of a gravity and a
dropping time for each case; case is abbreviated
by two letters. First letter is a magnet’s size.
Letter “s”, “m” and “l” are for “small”, “medium-
sized” and “large”, respectively. Letter “m” and
“o” are for “with a marked side down” and “with
an unmarked side down”, respectively.
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Mr. Kanisorn Khuphiran Student ID 6234203723

dropping time and a drag. A weight is dependent on the mass of

gravity (m/s2) a magnet. A drag force is dependent on the
Case (ms)
surface area which is the same for all magnets.
mean error mean error Certainly, a larger magnet has a heavier weight.
sm 7.44 0.05 -182 1 This grants it a greater dominance over a drag
force. Because our theoretical consideration
so 7.20 0.09 -186 2
doesn’t include a drag force, a larger or a heavier
mm 9.21 0.08 -156 1 magnet fits better to the theory.
mo 9.21 0.06 -152 1 4. CONCLUSIONS
Faraday’s law of induction can be demonstrated
lm 9.39 0.08 -147 2 by describing the working of a coil used to
lo 9.43 0.09 -144 2 ‘sense’ a passing magnet. The experiment to
estimate the value of a gravity puts the passing-
overall 8.65 0.42 - - magnet’s sensor into an action. With this sensor,
In the table 1, it has shown that the order of it is found that the value of a gravity is 8.7 ± 0.4
magnitude of gravity, compared to that of the m/s2 which has 89% accuracy and 95% precision.
accepted one, is correct but the exact value is The errors are due to omission of a drag force in
diverged to some degree. However, the average the theoretical consideration. However, a larger
value is 8.7 ± 0.4 m/s2 which has 89% accuracy magnet behaves very close to the free-fall. This is
and 95% precision. due to a greater dominance of its weight over a
drag force, which makes it negligible. A larger
Theory vs. Experiment
120
magnet may be used to achieve a higher accuracy
100
free-
fall while holding to the simple model of free-falling.
sm
In term of application, it looks promising for a
Falling distance (S) / cm

Poly-
nomial
80
(sm) simple magnetic object’s movement detector or
s0
60
Poly-
nomial
an electromagnetic flow meter.
(s0)
mm
40

20
0 Electrodynamics (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall.
0 100 200 300 400
Elapsed time (t) / ms
Figure 4: a s-t plot for six different cases compared
with free-fall consideration
In the figure 3, comparison is made on a s-t plot
between experimental results and a theoretical
consideration. It is clear that a larger magnet
behaves closer to the free-falling case. This is due
to that there are two competing forces: a weight
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mainly electromagnetism and matter (2nd
print). Addison-Wesley.
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electrodynamics. New York:Wiley.