Investigatory Project

Vel International
Public School

SANJAY.B
Class XII

Physics
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Certificate………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………..3
Acknowledgement..............................................................................................
........
....................... 4
Aim of the
Project.........................................................................................................
5
Apparatus and Materials
required..................................................................... 6
Theory .............................................................................................
.................................... 7
Procedure....................................................................................................
...................... 9
Observations and
Graph…........................................................................................ 11
To determine the horizontal component of earth’s magnet
Field
(H) ...........................................................................................................
.......11
From
graph.........................................................................................................
12
Result ...............................................................................................
.................................. 13
Precautions………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………....13
Sources of
error………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………….13
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Facts.............................................................................................................
........................14
Applications …......................................................................
............................................14
Bibliography................................................................................................
......................15

……….…..2

Certificate
This is to certify that the Physics project on the
topic “To study the earth's magnetic field using a
compass needle bar magnet by plotting
magnetic field lines and tangent galvanometer. .”
has been completed by Sanjay.B of Grade XII-A
under the guidance of Mr.David Pranap during
the academic session 2025-2026 as per the
guidelines issued by the Central Board Of
Secondary Education (CBSE).
 - 004
SIGNATURE OF THE PRINCIPAL:

SIGNATURE OF THE TEACHER:

……………3

Acknowledgement
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to our school
Principal Mrs.Bharathi for giving me this golden
opportunity to work on this project.

I want to thank our Physics teacher Mr. David Pranap for his
continuous guidance, encouragement and expertise. I am
grateful for the knowledge and skills I have gained under
their mentorship.
I would also like to extend my gratitude to my
classmates who have been actively involved in this
project.

I would also like to acknowledge the assistance provided

by the School administration and staff. Their
cooperation and provision of resources have greatly
contributed to successful execution of this project.
 - 005

Lastly, I am deeply grateful for the collective efforts and

support of everyone involved in this school project.
Thank you all for your valuable contribution and for
making this project a fulfilling and enriching experience

………….4

AIM OF THE PROJECT

The aim of the project is to study the Earth’s magnetic
field and find its value (BH) using a tangent galvanometer.

Tangent galvanometer made by Topview of a tangent galvanometer

J.H. Bunnell Co. around 1890. made about 1950.
 - 006

……………..5

APPARATUS AND MATERIALS

REQUIRED
 Tangent Galvanometer (TG),
 Commutator (C),
 Rheostat (R),
 Battery (E),
 Ammeter (A),
 Key (K), etc
 - 007

……………6

THEORY
Tangent galvanometer is an early measuring instrument
for small electric currents. It consists of a coil of insulated copper
wire wound on a circular non-magnetic frame. Its working is based
on the principle of the tangent law of magnetism. When a current is
passed through the circular coil, a magnetic field (B) is produced
at the center of the coil in a direction perpendicular to the plane of
the coil.
The working of tangent galvanometer is based on the
tangent law. It is stated as when a magnet is suspended freely in
magnetic field F and H, the magnet comes to rest making an angle
θ with the direction H such that,
 - 008

F = H tan θ (1)

When a bar magnet is suspended in two Magnetic fields B and Bh, it comes to rest
making an angle θ with the direction of Bh.

…………..7

Let a current I be passed through the coil of radius R, having turns

N. Then magnetic field produced at the centre of coil is,

𝐹 = 4π
μ 0 2πIN
(2)

Let H is the horizontal component of earth’s magnetic field and the

magnetic needle comes to rest at angle with the direction of H,
then according Eq. (1),
μ0 2πIN
= 4π

−7
2πIN
= 10
 - 009

2π×10 −7IN
=

by substituting the value of current I , from eq. (3),

0 2
= 4
(4)

radius of coil of galvanometer R, deflection and N, the value of

H can be calculated.

………….8

PROCEDURE
Connections are made as shown in the figure given below, where K is
the key, E the battery, A the ammeter, R the rheostat, C the commutator,
and T.G the tangent galvanometer. The commutator can reverse the
current through the T.G coil without changing the current in the rest of the
circuit. Taking the average of the resulting two readings for deflection
averages out, any small error in positioning the TG coil relative to the earth’s
magnetic field H .
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PROCEDURE FOR PERFORMING THE EXPERIMENT

1. Make the circuit connections in accordance with the circuit

diagram.
2. Using spirit level, level the base and the compass needle in
compass box of tangent galvanometer by adjusting the
leveling screw.
3. Now rotate the coil of the galvanometer about its vertical axis,
till the magnetic needle, its image in the plane mirror fixed at
the base of the compass box and the coil, i.e. all
4. these three lie in the same vertical plane. In this setting,

…………..9
5. the ends of the aluminium pointer should read zero-zero. If this
is not so, rotate the box without disturbing the position of the
coil till at least one of the ends of the pointer stands at the zero
marks.

6. By closing the key K, the current flow in the galvanometer.

Read the both ends of the pointer. Now reverse the direction
of current by using the reversing key. When the mean values
of both deflections shown by the pointer in the two cases (i.e.
before and after reversing the current) differ by more than 1o,
then turn slightly the vertical coil until the two values agree.
This will set the plane of the coil exactly in the magnetic
meridian.

7. By adjusting the rheostat, bring the deflection in galvanometer

around 45o. The deflection should not be outside the range
(30o-60o).
 - 011

8. Record the reading of the ammeter and the deflection of the

compass needle in the box shown by two ends of pointer on
the scale.

9. Reverse the current in the coil of galvanometer and again

record the current and deflection of needle.

10. By changing the value of current, take four or more set of

readings and plot the graph between I and tan . The graph will
be a straight line.

11. Measure the inner and the outer diameter of the coil with
a half metre scale at least three times. ………….10

OBSERVATIONS
1. Range of the Ammeter –
2. Least count of Ammeter –
3. Zero error in Ammeter –
4. Number of turns used (N) –

Table 1. For variation of with I

S.No. Value of deflection, θ (degree) Mean tan θ Ammeter reading

For direct current For reverse (A)
current
θ1 θ2 θ3 θ4 Obs Corrected
1. 35 35 35 35 35 0.70 0.15 0.15
2. 49 47 60 64 53.6 1.36 0.20 0.20
3. 36 36 55 58 46.25 1.04 0.25 0.25
4. 50 50 65 68 58.2 1.61 0.30 0.30
5. 45 45 64 65 53.8 1.37 0.27 0.27

Table 2. For radius of tangent Galvanometer

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S.No. Inner Outer diameter Mean diameter Mean radius

diameter d1 d2 (cm) d (cm)
(cm)
1. 16.0 × 10−2 16.40 × 10−2 16.20 × 10−2 8.10 × 10−2

2. 16.16 × 10−2 16.08 × 10−2 16.12 × 10−2 8.06 × 10−2

3. 16.06 × 10−2 16.10 × 10−2 16.08 × 10−2 8.04 × 10−2

Mean radius of coil R = 8.04 × 10−2

……….…11

GRAPH

BC
Slope of straight line = AC
 - 013

tanθ
m= I

Now substitute the m in Eq. (4),

μ0 2πN
m = 4π RH

Then, H = 7.6867 × 10−8

……….…12

RESULT
The value of earth’s magnetic field by using a tangent
galvanometer is

H = 7.6867 × 10−8

PRECAUTIONS
1. The battery should be freshly charged.
2. The magnetic needle should swing freely in the horizontal
plane.
3. The plane of coil must be set in magnetic meridian.
4. There should be no parallax in noting down the readings of
ammeter and deflection.
5. All the readings should be adjusted between 30o and 60o.

SOURCES OF ERROR
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1. There may a magnetic material around apparatus.

2. The plane of coil will not be exactly in the magnetic meridian.

……….…13

FACTS
The tangent galvanometer is an early measuring instrument for
Current
  The magnetic field produced by a circular coil carrying
current I is Proportional to I .
  The S.I unit of magnetic field is Tesla .
  The magnitude of horizontal intensity of earth’s magnetic
field is3.5x10⁻⁵ T .
  For better result while doing tangent galvanometer
experiment, the deflection should be in between 30o-60o.
  The value of μ₀ is 4πx10⁻⁷ NA⁻²

APPLICATIONS
 T.G. can be used to measure the magnitude of the horizontal
component of the geomagnetic field.

 The principle can be used to compare the galvanometer

constants.
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 For calibration of secondary instruments.

……….…14

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Tangent Galvanometer (Procedure) :Comprehensive
Physics Activities Volume I : Laxmi Publications Pvt Ltd.

 Tangent Galvanometer (Theory) : Comprehensive Physics

Activities Volume I : Laxmi Publications Pvt Ltd.

 Tangent Galvanometer (Precautions and Sources of

error) : Comprehensive Physics Activities Volume I : Laxmi
Publications Pvt Ltd.

 Galvanometer:
http://physics.kenyon.edu/EarlyApparatus/Electrical_Measure
ments/Tangent_Galvanometer/Tangent_Galvanometer.html

 Galvanometer: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanometer