Galvonometer Essay

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Discussion In this experiment we utilized a Tangent Galvanometer to prove the magnetic field of the Earth. Generally magnetic fields are generated anytime there is a flow of electric current. If a current flows through a circular loop of a radius R, a magnetic field is generated at the center of the loop. Using the right-hand rule, the field is perpendicular to the plane of the loop. The magnitude can be determined by using the equation: B = µ0 N I / 2R , N being the number of turns in the coil, (I) the current flowing through the coil, and µ0 being the constant that equals 4π x 10-7 T∙m/A. In the experiment, the tangent galvanometer was composed of a circular coil and in the middle of the galvanometer was a compass used to find the direction of the magnetic field at the center. With no current, the galvanometer was moved so that it ran parallel to Earth’s magnetic field. Then it was connected to a resistor and a power supply. A number of turns would be determined, such as 15, and the current flowing through would be altered to witness the change in the needle of the compass. With this we would record a series of measurements of the angle α, which the compass makes with the plane of the coil as a function of current. Two separate series would be recorded, current and α at 15 turns and 5 turns. With these numbers we made one graph of Bcoiltheo vs. tanα values and realize that they would plot a fairly straight line. To determine the slopes of each graph we would use linear regression. From these slopes we could calculate the Earth’s magnetic field at the point on Earth we are measuring, this magnetic field being titled Bcoilexp. This is determined using the equation above altered to look like: B = µ0 N I / 2R. The radius was measured separately and recorded as 0.116 m. In the second part of the lab, we knew the experiment would not be as accurate. The formula we

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