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daisy3110
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Homework Statement
For my extended essay as part of the IB, I am investigating the effect of changing the distance and the number of stationary ball bearings in a Gaussian gun.
I was hoping to look at the energy transfer during each stage of magnets and therefore calculate the efficiency. However, I am struggling to understand the equations for determining the potential energy.
I understand that magnetic potential energy U can be found using U=-mB where m is the magnetic moment and B the magnetic field but I'm not sure if this would be correct for this application as it relates to the orientation of the diopole in relation to the field.
I can't see how the ball bearing would have more potential energy in one orientation than the other as it is a soft magnet and therefore surely the regions of polarity would change? Could anyone help me with this? Thanks!
Homework Equations
U=-mB
The Attempt at a Solution
(Sorry it's all kind of in one part)
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