Getting F = q v B: Question 80W: Warm-up Exercise

Background

In chapter 15, the equation F = I L B is introduced, giving the magnitude of the force F on a wire of length L in which a
current I runs at right angles to a magnetic field. These questions are about finding a similar expression for the force
on an electron having a charge e and a velocity v. The same argument can be applied to any charge carriers, for
example ions in a mass spectrometer.

Questions

Suppose that, in a time t, N electrons pass any place in the beam, such as Y.

1. What is the charge passing Y in time t?

2. What is the current I (charge per second) at Y?

3. If the speed is v, what length, L, of beam passes Y in time t?

4. Use F = I L B and substitute the value of I from question 2 and of L from question 3. What do you get for the
force on N electrons?

5. What is the force on a single electron?

6. What would be the force on a particle with charge Q?

Deflection with electric and magnetic fields: Question 90S: Short

Answer
Instructions and information

Write your answers in the spaces provided. Use these data:

· magnitude of the electronic charge = 1.6 x 10–19 C

· mass of electron = 9.1x 10–31 kg

The force on an electric current in a magnetic field is perpendicular to both the current and the field. This diagram
may help you.

Questions

A beam of particles passes in a straight line from a source X, to a spot, E, on a fluorescent screen. When the
electromagnet shown is switched on, the beam hits the screen at one of the spots A, B, C, D or E.

1. Which spot does the beam hit if the particles are positively charged?
2. Where does it go if the particles are neutral?

3. What happens to the positively charged particles if the magnetic field is reversed?

In one form of mass spectrometer, charged ions in the beam fan out, moving in the paths shown in the diagram.
Parts of the paths include a magnetic field whose direction is perpendicular to the plane of the paper.

4. Indicate places where there must be no magnetic field in the direction suggested. Do not use shading.

5. Shade the area where there must be a magnetic field.

6. What is the shape of the path followed by a proton that is projected into a uniform magnetic field at right
angles to its velocity? Justify your answer.

The diagram shows the initial path of an electron fired into a uniform magnetic field. The magnetic field is at right
angles to the direction of the electron and is directed away from the reader.
7. Add a labelled arrow to the show the direction of the force on the electron.

8. Draw the subsequent path of the electron.

A uniform electric field is produced by maintaining a potential difference of 1000 V across a pair of parallel plates 5
cm apart. An electron enters the field at right angles as shown with a velocity of 4.0 ´ 107 m s –1 and emerges from
the plates without hitting them.

9. Draw in the path of the electron on the diagram.

10. What name is given to this type of path?

The Hall effect: Question 140S: Short Answer

Background

In 1879 the American physicist E H Hall found that when a current was flowing in a conductor, a magnetic field at
right angles to the current caused a very small potential difference across the conductor. If semiconductors are used
instead of ordinary conductors, there is a much larger p.d. The Hall effect is widely used in industry for measuring
magnetic fields.

Questions

If I is the current when there are n charge carriers per unit volume, each with electric charge Q passing through an
area A with a speed v, then I = n A Q v.

1. When the magnetic field B is switched on, what force will be exerted on one moving charge carrier?

2. What is the direction of the force? Mark it on the diagram.

3. After a time there will be higher density of negative charge near the front edge than near the rear edge.
Why?

4. A charge carrier in the middle will still experience a force due to the magnetic field, but it will also be
repelled by the extra charge carriers near the ‘front edge’.
How big must the electrical force be so that there is no further change in the number of negatively charged particles
near the edge?

5. Which edge of the strip will be positively, and which negatively, charged?

If, in another experiment, there were two parallel plates separated by a distance, d , and one plate was kept
positively charged and the other negatively charged, then there would be an electric field, E, present between the
plates, given by E = V / d where V is the p.d. between the plates.

A charge, Q, placed between the plates would experience a force due to this electric field: force = E Q.

The electric force acting on a charge moving in the conductor has been given by your answer to question 4.

6. What is the potential difference that has been produced between the front and rear edges of the strip of
conductor?

7. But I = n A Q v. What is A if the strip has thickness b?

You need an relationship for the number of charge carriers which does not contain the speed of the charge carriers.
8. Use I = n A Q v to eliminate v from your equation for the potential difference and obtain an equation relating
the number of charge carriers per unit volume to the potential difference. (Check that your expression has the units
m–3.)

Charged particles moving in a magnetic field: Question 150S:

Short Answer
Instructions

This question set contains two groups of questions. Answer all the questions in the spaces provided. The following
data will be needed:

· magnitude of the electronic charge = 1.6x 10–19 C

· mass of electron = 9.1x 10–31 kg

Questions 1–5

Questions 1–5 are about the motion of charged particles in a bubble chamber.

1. An electron gun in a vacuum accelerates electrons up to a kinetic energy of 2.9 x10 –16 J. Show that the speed
acquired by each electron is 2.5x 107 m s–1.

The electron beam enters a region of uniform magnetic field of strength, B, perpendicular to the beam. The
magnetic field causes the beam to follow a circular path as in the diagram below.
2. Show that the force experienced by the electron is about 8.8x 10 –15 N, when B is 2.2 x10–3 T.

3. Use your answer to question 2 to find the radius of this circular path.

4. Evidence for the motion of electrons in magnetic fields can be observed from the trail of bubbles they leave
as they pass through liquid hydrogen. In these bubble-chamber experiments a single electron tends to produce a
track which is a spiral rather than a circle. Explain why.

5. On the diagram below draw the likely path of a proton travelling at the same speed in an identical field.

Questions 6–10 are about the motion of charged particles in magnetic fields and the cyclotron frequency.
6. Explain why a charged particle, moving with a constant speed v perpendicular to a uniform magnetic field B,
will follow a circular path.

7. Show that for a particle of mass m and charge q the radius of the circular path is given by the expression r =
mv/Bq.

8. Using your answer to question 7, show that the frequency of this circular motion, known as the cyclotron
frequency, is given by the expression f = q B / 2 πm.

9. Some astrophysicists believe that the radio signals of 109 Hz reaching us from Jupiter are emitted by
electrons orbiting in Jupiter’s magnetic field. Assuming the frequency of the radio emission is identical to the
cyclotron frequency, find the strength of the magnetic field around Jupiter.

10. The electrons lose energy as they emit radiation. What effect, if any, will this have on the frequency of the
radio signals detected? Explain your answer.
Fields in nature and in particle accelerators: Question 160S:
Short Answer

Instructions and information

Write your answers in the spaces provided. The following data will be needed when answering these questions:

· electronic charge = – 1.6 x10–19 C

· mass of electron = 9.1 x10–31 kg

· e0 = 8.9 x10–12 F m–1

Questions

Suppose that a thundercloud has a flat horizontal base of area 1 km2. The base of the cloud is 200 m above the
Earth’s surface so that a uniform electric field is formed between the cloud and the Earth. A field of 106 V m –1
between the base of the cloud and the Earth is sufficient to cause a lightning flash.

1. Calculate the potential difference between the cloud and the ground at the moment the lightning flash
begins.

2. The charge on the base of the cloud is given by the equation Q = e0 A E where A is the area of the base of the
cloud and E is the electric field strength between the base and the Earth. Calculate the charge on the base of the
cloud.

3. The cloud and the Earth can be thought of as a parallel plate capacitor which stores energy when charged.
Assuming that the potential difference immediately after the flash is very small compared with the potential
difference at the beginning of the flash, calculate a value for the energy released during the flash.

Electrons accelerated through a potential difference of 200 V enter a uniform magnetic field of 0.001 T perpendicular
to the direction of motion.

4. Calculate the speed of the electrons when they enter the magnetic field.
5. Use your answer to question 4 to calculate the radius of the orbit in the magnetic field.

In an electron tube, electrons were passed through a region containing a vertical electric field E and a horizontal
magnetic field B. When the forces on the electron were balanced the electrons passed through the tube
undeflected.

6. Show that the electrons of charge e pass undeflected when they have a speed v = E / B.

The separation of the deflector plates was 24 mm and no deflection was observed when the voltage across the
plates was 3.2 kV and the magnetic field was 8.2x 10–3 T.

7. Calculate the velocity of the electrons.

The potential difference used to accelerate the electrons to this velocity was 750 V.

8. Use your answer to question 7 to calculate the ratio e/m for electrons where m is the mass of an electron.
A proton joined to a neutron is known as a deuteron or deuterium ion and is used in nuclear scattering experiments.
A deuteron has a mass of 3.3 x10–27 kg and a charge of + 1.6x 10–19 C.

9. Calculate the potential difference required to accelerate a deuteron from rest in a vacuum to a velocity of 9 ´
106 m s–1 (3% of the speed of light).

In an early form of particle accelerator, deuterons were made to move in a circular path within a toroidal tube of
diameter 1 m. A toroidal tube is like a hollow ring.

10. Calculate the magnetic field required to constrain a deuteron within the tube at the velocity of 9x10 6 m s–1.