Where Am I Going Wrong in Calculating the Force Between Two Bar Magnets?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mutaja
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Force Magnets
Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
2 replies · 2K views
Mutaja
Messages
239
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



You're given two bar magnets as shown below. In the gap between the two bar magnets, there's a bit of copper that's 1mm thick. The area of the bar magnet is 2.5cm2, and the flux density is 0.5T. Compute the force between the two bar magnets.

attachment.php?attachmentid=67956&stc=1&d=1395674521.png


Homework Equations





The Attempt at a Solution



So the force is given by this formula:

F = B * H * A

H = [itex]\frac{B<sub>∂</sub>}{µ<sub>0</sub>}[/itex] = [itex]\frac{0.5T}{4∏ * 10^-7}[/itex] = 397887

F = 0.5T * 397887 * ##2.5cm^2## = 497385.

The answer I get is about 20 000 times bigger than what I'm expecting.

Where am I going wrong?

F is the force.
B is the flux density in the air gap.
H is the field strength in the air gap.
A is the area in the air gap.

I'm sorry for the use of the wrong symbol, but ∂ was the closest I could get.

Also, I realized that I have a gap filled with copper instead of air, just as I was about to post this. I have no examples involving gaps with anything else than air as far as I'm aware. I will keep looking for this and update this post if I find anything.

Any input is appreciated.
 

Attachments

  • bar magnets.PNG
    bar magnets.PNG
    4.2 KB · Views: 641
Physics news on Phys.org
SteamKing said:
Well, for one thing, you are sloppy and inconsistent with the units of your calculation. Is area supposed to be in cm^2 or m^2? It makes a difference.

I'm sorry for this. 2.5cm2 should be 0.00025m2.

Also, I've overlooked the fact that my equation should contain 1/2.

I therefore get 24.87N, and that looks alright.

Thanks for your input, even if it's just to let me know I'm not doing my work properly.