What is the Magnetic Field of a Long Solenoid?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around determining the magnetic field of a long solenoid, specifically focusing on the field at the center and at the ends of the solenoid. The subject area involves concepts from electromagnetism, particularly Ampere's Law and magnetic fields generated by current-carrying conductors.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Conceptual clarification

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to apply Ampere's Law to find the magnetic field inside the solenoid, questioning the uniformity of the magnetic field. Some participants suggest using symmetry to analyze the magnetic field at the ends, while others seek further clarification on how to relate the middle of the solenoid to the ends.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants exploring different interpretations of the problem. Some guidance has been offered regarding the use of symmetry, but there is no explicit consensus on the approach to finding the magnetic field at the ends of the solenoid.

Contextual Notes

The original poster expresses uncertainty about their reasoning and seeks validation of their understanding, indicating a potential gap in information regarding the magnetic field at the ends of the solenoid.

shinobi20
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Homework Statement


A long solenoid has current I flowing through it, also denote N as the turns per unit length. Take its axis to be the z-axis, by symmetry the only component of the magnetic field inside is Bz. Find the magnetic field at the center of the solenoid (on the axis). Also, find the magnetic field at the ends of the solenoid.

Homework Equations


Ampere's Law

The Attempt at a Solution


For the first part, since the solenoid is long we can approximate the magnetic field inside to be uniform and is given by BzoNI, so we can say that the magnetic field at the center is also μoNI. I'm not sure if my argument is correct but based on my understanding, from the uniformity of the B field inside, it should be the same everywhere inside. Can anyone kindly tell me if this is correct? Any suggestions and insights?

For the second part I don't have any idea on how to start.
 
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Right.

For the second part, you can use symmetry: imagine you are in the middle of the solenoid, and split it in two parts: "below" and "above" (along the z axis).
 
mfb said:
Right.

For the second part, you can use symmetry: imagine you are in the middle of the solenoid, and split it in two parts: "below" and "above" (along the z axis).
If you split the solenoid into two parts, then the total magnetic field inside each half solenoid would also be half as much but I can't see how I can tell the magnetic field at both ends by imagining to be in the middle. Can you expound more?
 
The middle is just the sum of two ends.
 

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