Gre Problem #87 magnetic fields

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around a GRE problem involving two charged pith balls attached to a rod in a magnetic field. Participants explore the effects of turning off the magnetic field on the system's behavior, focusing on the induced electromotive force (emf) and resulting torque and angular momentum. The scope includes mathematical reasoning and conceptual clarification related to electromagnetic induction.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes their approach to finding the induced emf and torque, leading to an angular momentum calculation of qBR^2/2, but notes a discrepancy with the expected answer.
  • Another participant questions the integration method used to calculate torque, suggesting that the torque should be derived from the force on the charges directly rather than integrating over the radius.
  • A third participant agrees with the second poster's solution, indicating that the charges are localized at the ends of the rod, which affects the calculation of torque.
  • A fourth participant reflects on their initial misunderstanding regarding charge distribution and electric field presence, acknowledging the clarity gained from the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

There is no consensus on the correct method for calculating the torque and angular momentum. Participants present differing approaches and reasoning, with some agreeing on the localization of charges while others initially considered a distributed charge model.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty regarding the assumptions made about charge distribution and the presence of electric fields in the absence of a magnetic field. The discussion highlights the complexity of applying electromagnetic principles in this scenario.

quantumworld
Messages
36
Reaction score
0
I am so glad I found the link to this test, so I can reference questions with figures.
let me write the problem first, and provide the link at the end, and in between explain where I was stuck.

87) two small pith balls, each carrying a charge q, are attached to the ends of a light rod of length d, which is suspended from the ceiling by a thin torsion-free fiber, as shown in the figure above ( in the link). There is a uniform magnetic field B, pointing straight down, in the cylindrical region of radius R around the fiber. The system is initially at rest. If the magnetic field is turned off, which of the following describes what happens to the system?

I found the emf induced around the loop of Radius R, and I integrated from 0 to R to find the torque on the bar, and I multiplied my answer by 2, because there are two fields on the bar of opposite direction ( a loop), which will add to the torque, so I got that the bar will rotate with angular momentum = qBR^2/2,
but the correct answer is twice as much.

here is it with the figure:
http://phys.columbia.edu/~hbar/Physics-GRE.pdf

thankyou so much!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
quantumworld said:
87) two small pith balls, each carrying a charge q, are attached to the ends of a light rod of length d, which is suspended from the ceiling by a thin torsion-free fiber, as shown in the figure above ( in the link). There is a uniform magnetic field B, pointing straight down, in the cylindrical region of radius R around the fiber. The system is initially at rest. If the magnetic field is turned off, which of the following describes what happens to the system?

I found the emf induced around the loop of Radius R, and I integrated from 0 to R to find the torque on the bar,

I do not understand what and why did you integrate to get the torque. The electric force acting on one of the charges is F=qE. The torque is this force multiplied by d/2, and you have to take it twice because of the two charges.
Here is my solution:

I assume a uniform decrease of the magnetic field from B to 0 in \Delta T time. The actual time dependence does not really matter. The flux inside the circle of radius d/2 is then

\Phi = r^2\pi B(1-t/\Delta T)
I use the integral form of Maxwell's equation for the circle of diameter d.
\oint {E_s ds} =-{\frac{d\Phi}{dt}}
As the electric field is uniform along the circle and its direction is tangent of it
E_s = \frac{Br^2}{d\Delta T}

The force on one charge is F=qE_s and the torque with respect to the centre of the circle is Fd/2. There are two charges, so he resultant torque is M=Fd.
M = Fd =qd \frac{Br^2}{d\Delta T} = q \frac{Br^2}{\Delta T}.
The torque equals the time derivative of the angular momentum \Delta L/\Delta T=M. In time \Delta T, the angular momentum raises from zero to the value L=qBr^2.

ehild
 
quantumworld said:
I am so glad I found the link to this test, so I can reference questions with figures.
let me write the problem first, and provide the link at the end, and in between explain where I was stuck.

87) two small pith balls, each carrying a charge q, are attached to the ends of a light rod of length d, which is suspended from the ceiling by a thin torsion-free fiber, as shown in the figure above ( in the link). There is a uniform magnetic field B, pointing straight down, in the cylindrical region of radius R around the fiber. The system is initially at rest. If the magnetic field is turned off, which of the following describes what happens to the system?

I found the emf induced around the loop of Radius R, and I integrated from 0 to R to find the torque on the bar, and I multiplied my answer by 2, because there are two fields on the bar of opposite direction ( a loop), which will add to the torque, so I got that the bar will rotate with angular momentum = qBR^2/2,
but the correct answer is twice as much.

here is it with the figure:
http://phys.columbia.edu/~hbar/Physics-GRE.pdf

thankyou so much!
I agree with the other poster. His solution is correct.

It sounds as if you might have picked up an extra factor of 2 by integrating r dr. But as the other poster pointed out, you should not integrate because the charges are localized at the extremities of the bar. What you did would be correct if the charges were uniformly distributed along the length of the bar, in which case the total force would be smaller. But in this problem, the charges are at the extremities and there is no integral left to do (other than the trivial \int \vec E \cdot \vec ds = 2 \pi d/2 E =\pi d \times E.

Pat
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hello ehid and pat,
the reason I integrated is that I thought that the tube is going to suck up the charges, so they will be distributed over the whole tube ( but it is a rod, so it might be an insulator), but now that I see your solutions, it makes more sense not to think that way, and I also thought that there wouldn't be an electric field where there is no magnetic field, I was thinking narrowly, I thought that the electric field is going to show up only in the area where there was a magnetic field, but now I can see that I was wrong, I am so glad I found this forum! :smile: Many thanks for you guys!
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
2K
Replies
12
Views
2K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
884
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
3K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
1K
  • · Replies 15 ·
Replies
15
Views
3K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
662
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
  • · Replies 28 ·
Replies
28
Views
3K