Solving Currents & Magnets Practical Problem

[Pioneer]

I'm stucked on a practical in which I was supposed to find out how the magnetic force on a current carrying conductor depends on its length, current through it and the magentic field strength. After this I was supposed to plot 3 graphs.

Well, I carried out the expt. using a current balance but when I conducted the expt, which had 3 different parts, I got -ve values for (F1 - F0), which is proportional to the force exerted. NB. F1 is the weight of the magnet assembly with current flowing and obviously F0 is the weight without current flowing. Did I get negative values for force because the direction of the magnetic field was reversed? Also, If I use the -ve values, wouldn't my results obtained from the graphs be incorrect? NB. Also, I had to find out what F was by combining the 3 different parts. I.e, I had to find F in terms of I, n (no. of magnets), L and K (constant of proportionality), which I found to be F = KnIL. Thanks for any help.

 

[member 553083]

Yes, it is possible that you got negative values for force because the direction of the magnetic field was reversed. It is also possible that your results obtained from the graphs could be incorrect if the negative values are used. To ensure accuracy, you should make sure that the direction of the magnetic field is consistent in all three parts of the experiment. If the direction of the magnetic field is reversed, then the negative force values should be discarded and only the positive values should be used.