Electromagnetism calculation help

[cleggy]

1.

An electron is traveling in the +ve x-direction of an inertial frame T. An acceleration is given to the electron in the +ve y-direction with as large as magnitude as possible.

How do I specify directions of the electric and magnetic fields that will achieve this?

Why are the choice of field directions unique?

2.


3.

Surely the elctric field is pointing in the -ve y direction but not sure about the magnetic field.

I'm not sure though. Also have no clue why it would be unique!

 

[tiny-tim]

Welcome to PF!

Hi cleggy! Welcome to PF!

An electron is traveling in the +ve x-direction of an inertial frame T. An acceleration is given to the electron in the +ve y-direction with as large as magnitude as possible.

How do I specify directions of the electric and magnetic fields that will achieve this?

Why are the choice of field directions unique?

I'm confused … is this two separate questions, a) for a purely electric field and b) for a purely magnetic field, or is it for one joint field?

If the former, then use the force!

(that's the Lorentz force, of course )​

 

[nlightner]

I can provide some insight and guidance on the topic of electromagnetism and the calculation of electric and magnetic fields.

Firstly, in order to achieve an acceleration in the +ve y-direction, both the electric and magnetic fields must be present and perpendicular to each other. This is known as the right-hand rule, where the direction of acceleration is determined by the cross product of the electric and magnetic fields.

In order to specify the directions of the electric and magnetic fields, we need to consider the Lorentz force law, which states that the force on a charged particle is equal to the charge of the particle multiplied by the electric field plus the cross product of the particle's velocity and the magnetic field.

To achieve the largest possible acceleration, we would want the electric field to be as large as possible in the -ve y-direction and the magnetic field to be as large as possible in the +ve x-direction. This would result in the maximum force on the electron, causing it to accelerate in the +ve y-direction.

The choice of field directions is unique because any other combination of electric and magnetic field directions would result in a different force and therefore a different acceleration. This is due to the vector nature of electric and magnetic fields, where their direction and magnitude have a significant impact on the resulting force and acceleration.

I hope this helps clarify the concept of electromagnetism and the calculation of electric and magnetic fields. If you have any further questions or need additional assistance, please don't hesitate to ask. As scientists, we are always happy to help further understanding and knowledge in our fields of expertise.