Physics Education Electromagnetism: Force on a Current Carrying Wire Part 2

In Electromagnetism: Force on a Current Carrying Wire Part 1, I used equipment – an electronic balance, a data logger and bar magnets to investigate the relationship between Magnetic Force and Current. This equipment is available to most schools and therefore this experiment is easy to conduct, however it is not suitable to investigate the relationship between the force and the angle between the magnetic field and the current carrying wire. In this case I was able to perform the experiment with the aid of software. 



This experiment was conducted using the software Focus on Fields 
 Aim: To determine the relationship between the magnetic force on a current carrying wire and the angle between the current and the magnetic field. 
 Theory: When a current carrying wire is placed into a magnetic field it experiences a force given by the equation 

 F = BIlsinθ 

                                                    

                                                                                     Where F = Magnetic Force 

                                                                                             B = Magnetic Field Strength 

                                                                                              I  = Current 

                                                                                             L  = Length of wire in the field 

                                                                                             Θ = Angle 

Method : 
1.Start the Focus in Fields software 
2.Open the “Force on a Current Carrying Carrying Conductor” option and examine the experiment screen as shown below 

3.Starting with a current of 1 Amp and an angle of 0^o record the mass and angle (Θ ) in the table below. 
4.Repeat step 3 for angles in increments of 15^o to 90^o and complete the table below. 
5.Using the data in the table plot a graph of Force vs Sin Θ. 

 Results: 

Angle(Θ)	Sin Θ	Mass (g)	Force (N)

Discussion: 
 1.What is the shape of the line in your graph? 
 2.What does the slope of this graph represent?
 3.Determine the value of this slope. 

 Comment: It should be possible to estimate the magnetic field intensity (B) using the slope determined in 3. This does require a good estimation of the effective length of wire (l) in the field. This will depend upon your actual experimental design. 

 Conclusion. Write a conclusion to this experiment ensuring that you address the Aim.