Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Electromagnetic Damping due

to Eddy currents
How does the damping coefficient of an oscillating magnet over the metal plate

vary with respect to the perpendicular distance at its mean position from the metal

plate?

An Extended Essay in Physics

Word Count: 3939 words

Page 1 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Table of Contents

1: Introduction 4

1.1 Aims of study 4

1.2 Key terms 5

2: Variables 6

2.1 Dependent variables 6

2.2 Controlled variables 6

2.3 Independent variables 7

2.3.1 Part 1 7

2.3.1 Part 2 7

2.3.1 Part 3 7

3: Methodology 8

3.1 Preliminary experiment 8

3.2 Setup and Data collection 8
3.2.1 Part 1 12

3.2.1 Part 2 12

3.2.1 Part 3 14

3.3 Derivation of damping coefficient 15

4: Data Analysis 17

4.1 Part 1 17
4.2 Part 2 20
4.3 Part 3 23

5: Discussion 26

5.1 Conclusion 26
5.2 Reflection and Evaluation 27

Page 2 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

6: Bibliography 29

7: Appendix 30

7.1 Part 1 30
7.2 Part 2 36
7.3 Part 3 39

Page 3 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

1: Introduction

1.1 Aims of study

Electromagnetism is one of the most exiting topics for me in Physics. This topic has encouraged

me to pursue my career in electrical engineering. Electromagnetic Induction is a phenomenon in

which a conductor placed in a varying magnetic field causes the production of voltage 1.There

are lots of applications of electromagnetism such as electrical motor, electrical generator,

transformers, etc.. I have always had a great deal of interest in these things which triggered me to

do my extended essay on this topic. I divided my experiment into three parts to answer my

research question which is “How does the damping coefficient of an oscillating magnet over

the metal plate vary with respect to the perpendicular distance at its mean position from

the metal plate?”

To start with my extended essay, I made the neodymium magnet to oscillate over an aluminium

plate. I anticipated that due to the electromagnetic induction there would be something unusual

about the oscillation and that is exactly what happened. The oscillation of magnet produces eddy

current2 in the metal plate due to change in magnetic flux and according to Lenz’s law the

current opposes the its cause. The cause in this experiment is the oscillation of magnet so the

current opposes the oscillation of magnet. I changed the distance of the metal plate and the

magnet to see how the damping of magnet is affected. I used a motion detector to plot the

displacement versus time graph. The amplitude of any oscillating body undergoes damping
−𝑏×𝑡
according to the formula3 𝐴 = 𝐴𝑜 × 𝑒 2𝑚 , where A is the amplitude at a given time, Ao is the

1
Jones, Andrew Zimmerman. “Electromagnetic Induction”, https://www.thoughtco.com.
2
KJ Magnetics. “Eddy Currents”, https://www.kjmagnetics.com
3
Katieliw. “Damped Oscillations”, https://www.slideshare.net.

Page 4 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

maximum amplitude, b is the damping coefficient or damping constant, t is the time, and m is the

mass of the oscillating object. I found out how the damping coefficient (b) changes with the

perpendicular distance between the magnet and metal plate.

After obtaining this it made me think that what the thickness of the aluminium plate would do to

the damping coefficient so for the second part of my experiment, I kept the perpendicular

distance constant for different thicknesses of aluminium plate to see how the damping coefficient

varies with thickness. For the final part I took plates of different materials of same thickness and

made the magnet to oscillate over them from the same perpendicular distance. This would help

me to see how the properties of material affect the damping coefficient.

1.2 Key terms

a. Damping Coefficient (b): It is a constant which shows the rate at which an oscillating object

(magnet) undergoes damping. The unit for damping coefficient is kgs-1.

b. Perpendicular distance (d): It is the distance between the centre of the mass of the magnet at

its mean position and the metal plate.

c. Mean Position: It is the position of magnet when before it is set to oscillate.

Page 5 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

2: Variables

As my experiment is divided into three parts I have separate variables for each part, however

there are certain variables which are the same for each and every part. Those variables are:-

2.1 Dependent Variables

1. Damping coefficient (b): The damping coefficient is dependent on different independent

variables in each experiment.

2.2 Controlled variables

1. Magnet: The magnet used was the same throughout the experiment because the damping

coefficient is dependent on the mass of the magnet.

2. Pole strength of the magnet: As the magnet was kept constant the pole strength is also

constant.

3. Oscillating length: The time period of oscillation is dependent of the length of oscillation

𝑙
according to the formula 𝑇 = 2Π√𝑔 so the length of the oscillating magnet was kept

constant.

4. Release point of the magnet: This kept constant for every trial because changing the

release point would change the energy of the oscillating magnet.

Page 6 of 41
 Physics Extended Essay gnk335

2.3 Independent variables

The Independent variables that are changing for different parts are given below and shown in

figure 1.

2.3.1 Part 1

 The perpendicular distance of magnet from the metal plate (d) : This was changed by

bringing the metal plate close to the magnet as the oscillating length of magnet had to be

kept constant.

2.3.2 Part 2

 Thickness of metal plate: The thickness of metal plate was changed to see how thickness

affects the damping coefficient.

2.3.3 Part 3

 The type of material plate: The nature of the material was changed for the final part of the

experiment to see that how the nature of material affects the damping coefficient.

Figure 1: The experimental setup

Mean position of magnet

Release Point of
the magnet

Magnet
Perpendicular distance
of oscillation (d)

Metal plate

Page 7 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

3: Methodology

3.1 Preliminary experiments

I first wanted to see how the thicknesses of different metal pipes affect the time taken by the

magnet to reach the end of the pipe. I placed light gates at the start and the end of the pipe to

compare the velocities. This would help me find the energy change which would help me find

the drag force due to electromagnetic induction. However, there were only a few pipes available

of different thickness so I decided to drop the idea as I wouldn’t have been able to see a

significant change in the drag force due to the same.

After that experiment did not work as expected, I suspended the magnet in oscillation over an

aluminium plate and monitored the oscillation using a force sensor. I expected that the force

sensor would display less force when the aluminium plate was placed because of the drag force.

The difference in the original value and the force with aluminium plate would help me calculate

the drag force with which magnet comes to a hault; but this method also did not work as I could

see very minute change in force. After this experiment failed I was thought about changing my

topic.

My supervisor advised me to look up the damping equation. While doing that I had a eureka

moment. I figured out what to do for my experiment and the trial experiment was also successful

for this experiment.

3.2 Setup and Data Collection

I went to a carpenter and customised setup for my experiment as I could not use the normal stand

used for oscillation since it is made out of iron and the magnet will be attracted to the stand.

While he made the stand, I also made sure that there is least usage of nails because they will

Page 8 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

affect the magnet which will change my readings. I used the wooden rod to hang the magnet and

I changed the perpendicular distance of the metal plate using different books. I did not change

the length of oscillation because time period of an oscillating magnet is dependent on its

oscillating length. I also visited a factory to get aluminium plates of different thicknesses as the

ones available in the market were not shaped properly. The method I followed to obtain my data

is as follows:

The magnet was oscillated with an oscillating length of 0.285m for the entire experiment. This

distance was chosen because then the distance between magnet and the base would be 0.04m

which is the maximum distance between from the plate that had to be kept was 0.04m. The

magnet was suspended from the wooden rod using a cotton string as shown in the figure 1. Then

an aluminium plate was kept at a distance of 0.04m from the magnet. The distance between the

magnet and the plate was reduced by 0.005 meters after taking three trials. This was repeated

until the perpendicular distance becomes 0.005 meters. The point from which magnet was

released was kept constant by marking the release point on the base which ensures that the

magnet has same energy in each and every trial. When the magnet was released and it reached

the extreme position on the opposite side of the release point the data collection was started by

clicking the “Collect” button on the Logger-pro software data was collected till the magnet

comes to rest.

Page 9 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Figure 2: The experimental setup

The figure 3 shows the graph I obtained for magnet oscillating for a distance of 4 cm from the

aluminium plate.

Figure 3: Graph for body oscillating at a distance of 2cm

This figure shows two graphs – position versus time and velocity versus time. The position

(displacement) versus time is the first graph and the velocity versus time is the one below that.
𝜋
The position-time graph follows a sine graph and there is a phase difference of between the
2

Page 10 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

position-time and velocity-time graph which confirms that the magnet is undergoing simple

harmonic motion.

After I selected the position-time graph I selected analysecurve fit… option to obtain an

equation.

Figure 4: Curve fit for distance 2cm

After selecting the “Curve Fit…” option I selected the general equation for natural exponent

which is written in the software as ‘A*exp(-Ct) + B’. After that I selected the part of the graph

for which I needed an equation. I selected the amplitude of the graph as my starting point as the
−𝑏×𝑡
equation 𝐴 = 𝐴𝑜 × 𝑒 2𝑚 models how the amplitude undergoes damping. The software then

automatically fits the equation type and the graph which displays the values of each variable as

shown in figure 4. I needed the value of the variable C in each case (marked in red).

Page 11 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

3.2.1 Part 1

The data collected for the aluminium plate of thickness 2mm is in the table below:

Table 1.1: Perpendicular Distance and C from Loggerpro

Perpendicular Constant in the equation [C] / s-1

distance [d]/m
(± 0.0005) C1 C2 C3

0.0050 17.790 16.790 18.410

0.0100 10.040 11.280 10.560

0.0150 7.429 6.270 7.956

0.0200 5.791 4.487 4.795

0.0250 3.844 4.160 4.969

0.0300 2.571 2.851 2.528

0.0350 1.924 2.595 1.729

0.0400 1.187 1.040 1.254

This table shows the data for C according to the equation 𝑥 = 𝐴 × 𝑒 (−𝐶𝑡) + 𝐵. Here A is the

amplitude, C is the decay constant, t is the instantaneous time for displacement of the oscillating

point. This equation is from the Logger Pro software and it automatically finds the specific value

for each of the variable.

3.2.2 Part 2

After doing this experiment, I thought that if the value of C is changing with perpendicular

distance then there should be a change when there is a change in thickness of aluminium plate as

it is known that the thicker the material the higher the eddy currents produced in the material. For

this experiment the perpendicular distance was kept constant as 0.020m or else there would be

Page 12 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

two independent variables for this part of the experiment and the purpose of this experiment was

to see how the damping is affected due to thickness. So, thickness of aluminium plates used for

this experiment was 0.5mm, 1mm, 2mm, 3mm and 5mm. The perpendicular distance was kept 2

cm from the aluminium plate of different thickness. This was chosen as the perpendicular

distance the variation for 2cm is the least.

The data collected is given the table below:

Table 2.1: Vales for C for different thickness

Constant Constant in the exponential equation [C] / s-1

perpendicular
distance (d = 2cm) Cmean
Thickness/mm C1 C2 C3

0.5 2.966 2.866 2.954 2.926

3.696
1.0 3.183 4.535 3.369
5.024
5.791 4.487 4.795
2.0

3.0 8.126 8.187 9.206 8.506

5.0 8.132 14.7 11.17 11.334

As it can be seen in the table the value of ‘Cmean’ does change when the thickness is changed and

the relationship between them appears to be liner as there is no uneven increase or decrease when

the thickness of aluminium plate changes. Even though changing the thickness of the plate does

not change the field pattern to a large extend. Increase in the thickness of aluminium plate

provides more volume to the electrons.

Page 13 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

3.2.3 Part 3

I wanted to know whether the previous result is true for every material. Therefore, I decided to

extend this experiment by testing this on different materials and for this experiment I kept the

perpendicular distance as 2 cm from the base at its mean position. This would keep only one

independent variable in this experiment. It will help compare results from the previous

experiment. This can hence determine which metal produces larger eddy currents when there is a

change in magnetic flux. The higher the value of ‘C’ the higher the eddy currents produced.

Since the eddy currents will oppose cause, higher eddy currents will oppose more thus the

magnet will come to halt quickly which means that the value of ‘C’ will be higher.

The results that I have obtained are given in the table below:

Table 3.1: Vales of C for different materials

Constant in the exponential equation

Perpendicular [C]/ s-1

distance (d=2cm)
Material of thickness
2mm C1 C2 C3

Brass 2.521 2.861 2.932

Aluminum 5.791 4.487 4.795

Copper 4.784 5.729 4.636

German Silver 2.840 2.736 2.769

Page 14 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

3.3 Derivation of damping coefficient

The amplitude of the oscillating magnet decreases with time. This decrease is governed by the
−𝑏×𝑡
equation 𝐴 = 𝐴𝑜 × 𝑒 2𝑚 , where 𝐴 is amplitude at a given time, 𝐴𝑜 is the amplitude, 𝑒 is constant,

𝑏 is the damping coefficient, 𝑡 is the instantaneous time and 𝑚 is the mass of oscillating magnet.

Comparing 𝑥 = 𝐴 × 𝑒 (−𝐶𝑡) + 𝐵 which models the exponential decay of a body in the Logger Pro
−𝑏×𝑡
software to 𝐴 = 𝐴𝑜 × 𝑒 2𝑚 + 𝐵 which is used to see the damping of a body exhibiting simple

harmonic motion.

−𝑏×𝑡
By comparing, we see that −𝐶 × 𝑡 = .
2𝑚

The time (t) on both the sides cancels out so the equation can be rewritten to make b the subject

as

𝑏 =𝐶 ×2 ×𝑚

‘m’ here is the mass of the oscillating object which would be the neodymium magnet. The mass

of the magnet is 52g. This was found using a weighing balance which was not magnetic as

magnetic properties would affect the value on the scale.

For distance (d) 0.0050 meters the damping coefficient will be

𝑏 = 17.790 × 2 × 0.052

This gives the value of the first damping coefficient (b1) which is equal to 1.850 kgs-1.

The value for b2 is16.790 × 2 × 0.052 = 1.746 kgs-1.

Page 15 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

The value for b3 is 18.410 × 2 × 0.052 = 1.915 kgs-1.

The mean value of damping coefficient for distance 0.0050 meters can be calculated by the

𝒃𝟏 +𝒃𝟐 +𝒃𝟑
formula 𝒃𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 = 𝟑

1.850 + 1.746 + 1.915

The value of bmean is = 1.819 kgs-1
𝟑

I also converted the perpendicular distance [d] into meters as I needed the values to be in SI units

so the uncertainty will also be divided by 100 so it will become ± 0.0005m.

Page 16 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

4 Data Analysis

4.1 Part 1

This formula was used to calculate value of damping coefficient (b) for every reading. The value

of the damping coefficient for all the perpendicular distances is given in the table 2 below.

Table 1.2: Values of damping coefficient (b)

Perpendicular Damping coefficient [b] / kgs-1

distance [d]/m

(± 0.0005) b1 b2 b3 bmean

0.0050 1.850 1.746 1.915 1.837

0.0100 1.044 1.173 1.098 1.105
0.0150 0.773 0.652 0.827 0.751
0.0200 0.602 0.467 0.499 0.523
0.0250 0.400 0.433 0.517 0.450
0.0300 0.267 0.297 0.263 0.276
0.0350 0.200 0.270 0.180 0.217
0.0400 0.123 0.108 0.130 0.121

This table shows the value of ‘b’ for aluminium plate of thickness 2mm. It is seen that as the

perpendicular distance decreases the value of damping coefficient (b) increases. A graph

between the independent variable and the dependent variable would help establish a relationship

between these two variables. The expected result is an exponential decay because the damping

coefficient is an exponent. Even if we look at the magnetic field intensity of a magnet it

Page 17 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

decreases exponentially following an inverse square law so as the perpendicular distance

increases the magnetic field decreases exponentially and magnetic field is the cause of damping

of magnet.

Graph 1.1: Damping coefficient v/s Perpendicular distance

Damping coefficient (b) v/s Distance (d)

2.000
1.800
Damping coefficient/b (kg/s)

1.600
1.400
1.200
1.000
0.800
0.600
0.400
0.200
0.000
0.0050 0.0100 0.0150 0.0200 0.0250 0.0300 0.0350 0.0400 0.0450
Distance/d (meter)

This graph between damping coefficient and perpendicular distance is an exponential decay as

the value of b is decreasing exponentially with respect to distance. This can be expected because
−𝑏×𝑡
the equation for damping of amplitude of a body in simple harmonic motion is 𝐴 = 𝐴𝑜 × 𝑒 2𝑚 .

To obtain a liner relationship I need to take the natural logarithm that is 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑒 on the y-axis.

The values for 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑒 𝑏 are given in the table below

Page 18 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Table 1.3: Value of damping coefficient for different perpendicular distance

Perpendicular Damping constant [b] /kgs-1

distance [d]/m
(± 0.0005) ln(b1) ln(b2) ln(b3) ln(b)mean Δb

0.0050 0.615 0.557 0.650 0.607 0.046

0.0100 0.043 0.160 0.094 0.099 0.058

0.0150 -0.258 -0.428 -0.189 -0.292 0.119

0.0200 -0.507 -0.762 -0.696 -0.655 0.128

0.0250 -0.917 -0.838 -0.660 -0.805 0.128

0.0300 -1.319 -1.216 -1.336 -1.290 0.060

0.0350 -1.609 -1.310 -1.716 -1.545 0.203

0.0400 -2.092 -2.224 -2.037 -2.118 0.094

The uncertainty in 𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑒 𝑏 was found using the formula

𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 − 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚
𝛥𝑥 =
2

The sample calculation for 0.0050m is

0.650 − 0.557
= 0.046
2

The graph for the same is given below.

Page 19 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Graph 1.2: lnb versus distance

lnb v/s distance

Bestfit line
1
Maximum
0.5
Minimum

0 Linear (Bestfit line)

0.0000 0.0100 0.0200 0.0300 0.0400
Linear (Maximum)
lnb/ kgs-1

-0.5

ymaximum = -46.55x + 0.2873 Linear (Minimum)

-1
y = -72.476x + 0.8809
-1.5
yminimum = -78.75x + 1.0083

-2

-2.5
Perpendicular distance (d)

It is seen in the graph that as the perpendicular distance increases the value of ‘lnb’ increases.

This happens because as the distance decreases the magnetic field strength acting on the

aluminium plate increases because it follows inverse square law. This results in a greater

magnetic flux linked with the conductor so the change in magnetic flux will also increase. This

will result in an increase in the eddy currents produced. The induced eddy currents is the cause

of damping so when the eddy currents is high the damping will also be more and eddy currents

produced is high when the magnet is close to the aluminium plate.

4.2 Part 2

This graph proves that there is a relationship between perpendicular distance and the damping

coefficient. The next part of the experiment tested the relationship between thickness of

aluminium plate and how that affects the damping of the oscillating magnet. The quantitative

observation were that as the thickness of the aluminium plate increases the time taken by the

Page 20 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

magnet the decreases. This observation is also backed by the qualitative observation which are

shown in the values of ‘C’. The formula 𝑏 = 𝐶 × 2 × 𝑚 was used to find the value of damping

coefficient (b). The sample calculation for thickness 0.5 mm is given below

b1= 2.966 × 2 × 0.052 = 0.308 kgs-1

b2= 2866.× 2 × 0.052 = 0.298 kgs-1

b3= 2.954 × 2 × 0.052 = 0.307 kgs-1

𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 − 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚
The uncertainty was calculated using the formula 𝛥𝑥 =
2

0.308−0.298
The uncertainty in this case will be ∆𝑏 = = 0.005
2

𝒃𝟏 +𝒃𝟐 +𝒃𝟑
The mean was calculated using the formula 𝒃𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 = .
𝟑

0.308 + 0.298 + 0.307

𝒃𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 = = 0.305 ± 0.005
3

The uncertainty in every value of b will be different as the maximum and minimum of every case

will vary. The value of damping coefficient for different thicknesses is given in the table.

Page 21 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Table 2.2: Values of damping coefficient for different thickness of aluminium plate

Damping coefficient [b] /kgs-1

Δb
Thickness/mm b1 b2 b3 bmean
0.005
0.5 0.308 0.298 0.307 0.305
0.056
1.0 0.331 0.472 0.350 0.384
0.068
2.0 0.845 0.851 0.957 0.885
0.070
3.0 0.845 0.851 0.957 0.885
0.342
5.0 0.846 1.529 1.162 1.179

The graph between the damping constant and thickness of aluminium plate will help us check

whether or not the relationship is liner or not.

Graph 2.1: Damping coefficient versus thickness

Damping coefficient v/s Thickness

1.600

1.400 y maximum= 0.3135x + 0.0145

Damping coefficient [b]/ kgs-1

1.200 y = 0.2028x + 0.1889

yminimum = 0.1875x + 0.2525 Series1
1.000
Maximum
0.800
Minimum
0.600 Linear (Series1)

0.400 Linear (Maximum)

Linear (Minimum)
0.200

0.000
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Thickness/mm

The graph establishes a relationship between thickness and the damping coefficient. The

damping coefficient increases linearly with the increase in thickness. The radius of every plate

Page 22 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

was the same so this change happens due to the change in the volume as the perpendicular

distance increases (thickness). This increase in volume provides more space for the currents to

move around and this in turn increases the drag force acting on the magnet4. It is seen in the

graph that there isn’t much difference between the damping coefficients for the last two

thickness. This could be because I used two different aluminium plates to give me that thickness.

I did that because there were no aluminium sheet thicker than 3mm available in the market so I

used a 3mm plate and a 2mm plate which would be the cause of this error.

I have not included 5mm error bars because the error for that is too high and including them

would increase the overall error of this experiment the reason for that error is also known.

4.3 Part 3

Moving to the third part of my experiment in which I am extending the research to various metal

as it can be used to establish that which metal undergoes the maximum damping. This can also

be used as a purity test for different metals as a more pure metal will undergo more damping as

more eddy currents will be produced which are the cause for damping. The table 3.2 below

shows the value of damping coefficient ‘b’ for different metals. The formula 𝑏 = 𝐶 × 2 × 𝑚

was used to find the value of ‘b’ from table 3.1. The sample calculation for brass is:

b1= 2.521 × 2 × 0.052 = 0.262

b2 = 2.861 × 2 × 0.052 = 0.298

b3= 2.932 × 2 × 0.052 = 0.305

𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 − 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚
The uncertainty for this was calculated using the formula 𝛥𝑥 = .
2

4
Mike. “How to increase Eddy Current Breaking?”, https://van.physics.illinois.edu.

Page 23 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

0.305−0.262
The uncertainty in damping coefficient for brass is 𝛥𝑏 = = 0.021
2

Table 3.2: Values of damping coefficient for different materials

Damping coefficient [b]/ kgs-1

Material b1 b2 b3 bmean Δbmean
Brass 0.262 0.298 0.305 0.288 0.021
Aluminum 0.602 0.467 0.499 0.523 0.068
Copper 0.404 0.596 0.482 0.494 0.096
German Silver 0.295 0.285 0.288 0.289 0.005

This table shows that different metals have different damping coefficient due to their chemical

properties. Aluminium has the highest damping coefficient which means that there are maximum

Eddy currents produced in the aluminium plate which cause the damping. The graph will show

how the damping coefficient vary with respect to metals.

Graph 3.1: Damping coefficient versus material

Damping coefficient v/s Material

0.700
Damping coefficient [b]/ kgs-1

0.600

0.500

0.400

0.300

0.200

0.100

0.000
Brass German Silver Copper Aluminum
Material

After looking at the graph we can understand that different properties of metal such as electron

arrangement cause different type of damping effect in them as some metals like aluminium and

copper have a higher damping constant, where as some like silver do not undergo damping at the

Page 24 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

same rate. This could also be observed while performing the experiment. After doing this I

verified that the results I obtained in the previous two experiments are valid for different

materials also.

Page 25 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

5: Discussion

5.1: Conclusion

I would like to summarize the results which I have obtained in different parts of the experiment.

In the first part of the experiment we can see that how change of magnetic flux affects the

damping coefficient. The effect of damping was affected by the change in magnetic field

intensity. As the intensity of magnetic field intensity increases the damping effect also increased,

this can be seen in the exponential decay graph.

In the second part of the experiment I checked how damping constant was affected by the change

in thickness of the aluminium plate. I thought that there would be an irregular pattern when the

thickness was changed, but surprisingly the relation was linear. This was due to larger volume

that eddy currents had to move around and oppose the magnet. It can be inferred that as the

volume of the metal increases the amount of eddy currents increases linearly with that and so

does the damping coefficient.

For the final part of the experiment, I found how the chemical composition affects the damping

constant. It was seen that pure metals such as aluminium and copper underwent a greater

damping compared to alloys such as brass and stainless steel. The silver plate also did not

provide much damping to the magnet. It can hence be known, that as the conductivity of the

object also effects the amount of eddy currents produced in it. I obtained a result in which I

found that aluminium is a better conductor than copper and silver which is not true theoretically.

When we closely observe the results obtained, it can be concluded that the damping coefficient

of an oscillating magnet increases in the following manner

Page 26 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

i. Damping coefficient increases exponentially with decrease of perpendicular distance.

This conclusion can be extended by saying that this would be true for any material of any

thickness.

ii. Damping coefficient increases the increase linearly with the increase of the thickness of

the same material at the same perpendicular distance.

iii. Damping coefficient increases as the conductivity of the material increases, but for the

same thickness and same perpendicular distance.

Finally, to conclude, I can say that the damping coefficient increases as the perpendicular

distance decreases irrespective of the thickness or the nature of material.

5.2 Reflection and Evaluation

In the first experiment, I obtained results that were according to my assumptions. There are a few

outliers in the graph 1.2 between lnb and perpendicular distance. This is due to the error in the

motion sensor or due to the error while releasing the magnet. To avoid this, a more sensitive

motion sensor can be used and a mechanical device can be made to ensure that the magnet is

released from the same point for each and every reading. In the second part also there are two

values of damping coefficient that are very close to each other, this is because I used two

separate plates to obtain a thickness of 5mm as I couldn’t find an aluminium plate which had a

thickness greater than 3mm. The currents flow separately in those two plates and this decreases

the drag force acting on the magnet. This error proves why transformers have slices of metal

instead of one single block. The use of slices of metals reduces the effect of eddy currents which

is what is happened in this experiment. This happens because each sheet produces its own eddy

currents, but the sum of the eddy currents are less when compared to single plate.

Page 27 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

In the third part of the experiment, I obtained results that were theoretically incorrect. This might

be because the aluminium plate used was bought from a factory, while the copper and the silver

were bought from local shops so the purity of copper and silver plate might be less than that of

aluminium. The silver plate could have been coated with silver so less eddy currents would be

produced compared to a pure silver plate. The copper plate could also have impurities which

would affect the results.

An uncertainty throughout experiment is air resistance. I haven’t taken into consideration the

presence of air resistance and the values I obtained may be a slightly high as air resistance would

also damp the oscillation of magnet. When I oscillated the magnet, with and without the presence

of a metal plate, I noticed a large difference between the values of time taken. Therefore, I did

not take air resistance into consideration. This error can be removed if the experiment is

performed in vacuum.

This experiment was successful, especially because it came at a time where I was faced by a

situation that could have forced me to change my topic. The results I obtained are also as per my

expectations. There are several applications of this experiment in many places for breaking

systems, for example, in a train electromagnets can placed in front of the iron wheels and the

electricity can be varied to produce different breaking effects. This experiment could be further

improved by using different magnets to find out that how the magnetic field intensity affects the

damping constant. Magnetic flux can be found using Faraday’s equation of electromagnetic

induction which can then be used to find the induced current. This will give the theoretical value

for each and every case.

Page 28 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

6: Bibliography

"Damped Harmonic Motion." N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May. 2017. <http://physics.bu.edu/~redner/211-

sp06/class-oscillations/damped.html>.

Damped Harmonic Oscillator. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2017. <http://hyperphysics.phy-

astr.gsu.edu/hbase/oscda.html>.
Damping of Simple Harmonic Motion (not DAMPENING, Silly, It Might Mold!) | Doc Physics.
Perf. Doc Schuster. YouTube. N.p., 18 Oct. 2012. Web. 27 June 2017.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6wAgtvX_8w>.

Deutsch, Josh. "Damped Oscillations." Josh Deutsch. Josh Deutsch, 05 Jan. 2010. Web. 27 June.
2017. <https://deutsch.physics.ucsc.edu/6A/book/harmonic/node18.html>.

"Eddy Currents." Eddy Currents. KJ Magnetics, Inc., n.d. Web. 05 Aug. 2017.
<https://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?p=eddy-currents>.
Hamper, Chris. Higher Level Physics. 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2014. Print.

Jones, Andrew Zimmerman. "Electromagnetic Induction." ThoughtCo. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July
2017. <https://www.thoughtco.com/electromagnetic-induction-2699202>.

Katieliw. "Damped Oscillations." Slide Share. N.p., 02 Feb. 2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.
<https://www.slideshare.net/katieliw/damped-oscillations-44146636>.

Mahalingam, Raghav. "Damping Ratio: Definition & Formula." Study.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 9
Nov. 2017. <https://study.com/academy/lesson/damping-ratio-definition-formula.html>.
Mike. "How to Increase Eddy Current Breaking?" Ask the Van. Department of Physics -
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 26 Mar. 2014. Web. 19 Oct. 2017.
<https://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=26681>.
"Understanding Eddy Current Loss: How to Minimize It? Tutorial." Electricalbasicprojects.
N.p., 3 Jan. 2015. Web. 22 Oct. 2017. <http://www.electricalbasicprojects.com/how-to-
minimize-eddy-current-loss-tutorial/+>.

Page 29 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

7: Appendix

7.1 Experiment 1

Figure 6.1.1: 0.0050 meters reading 1

Figure6.1.2: 0.0050 meters reading

Figure 6.1.3: 0.0050 meters reading 3

Figure 6.1.4: 0.0100 meters reading 1

Page 30 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Figure 6.1.5: 0.0100 meters reading 2

Figure 6.1.6: 0.0100 meters reading 3

Figure 6.1.7: 0.0150 meters reading 1

Figure 6.1.8: 0.0150 meters reading 2

Page 31 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Figure 6.1.9: 0.0150 meters reading 3

Figure 6.1.10: 0.0200 meters reading 1

Figure 6.1.11: 0.0200 meters reading 2

Figure 6.1.12: 0.0200 meters reading 3

Page 32 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Figure 6.1.13: 0.0250 meters reading

Figure 6.1.14: 0.0250 meters reading 2

Figure 6.1.15: 0.0250 meters reading 3

Figure 6.1.16: 0.0300 meters reading 1

Page 33 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Figure 6.1.17: 0.0300 meters reading 2

Figure 6.1.18: 0.0300 meters reading 3

Figure 6.1.19: 0.0350 meters reading 1

Figure 6.1.20: 0.0350 meters reading 2

Page 34 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Figure 6.1.21: 0.0350 meters reading 3

Figure 6.1.22: 0.0400 meters reading 1

Figure 6.1.23: 0.0400 meters reading 2

Figure 6.1.24: 0.0400 meters reading 3

Page 35 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

7.2 Experiment 2

Figure 6.2.1: 0.5mm plate reading 1

Figure 6.2.2: 0.5mm plate reading 2

Figure 6.2.3: 0.5mm plate reading 3

Page 36 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Figure 6.2.4: 1mm plate reading 1

Figure 6.2.5: 1mm plate reading 2

Figure 6.2.6: 1mm plate reading 3

Figure 6.2.7: 3mm plate reading 1

Page 37 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Figure 6.2.8: 3mm plate reading 2

Figure 6.2.9: 3mm plate reading 3

Figure 6.2.10: 5mm plate reading 1

Figure 6.2.11: 5mm plate reading 2

Page 38 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Figure 6.2.12: 5mm plate reading 3

7.3 Experiment 3

Figure 6.3.1: Brass reading 1

Figure 6.3.2: Brass reading 2

Figure 6.3.3: Brass reading 3

Page 39 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Figure 6.3.4: German silver reading 1

Figure 6.3.5: German silver reading 2

Figure 6.3.6: German silver reading 3

Figure 6.3.7: Copper reading 1

Page 40 of 41
Physics Extended Essay gnk335

Figure 6.3.8: Copper reading 2

Figure 6.3.9: Copper reading 3

Page 41 of 41