Cambridge International A Level Physics

Answers to self-assessment questions

Answers to SAQs
Chapter 26
1

Current flowing into page

So for force F due to magnet on wire,

F0.20 = 0.021039.81, meaning
F = 1.96104N
Rearrange force F = BIl to give flux density

Current flowing out of

page, strength doubled

1.9610 = 7.8103T
B = IlF = 0.500.050

10

11

a Force exerted by magnetic field is at a
maximum when the section of wire in
the field lies at right angles to the field.
Remembering there are 200 turns,
Force F = BIl = 0.051.02000.20 = 2.0N
b Pivoted along a line parallel to one edge with
the magnetic field in the same plane as the
coil.
c Greater torque could be provided by:
increasing current, increasing number of
turns in coil, increasing length of side in field,
pivoting by centre of coil and having magnets
either side, having magnets all round the
circle through which the coil turns, increasing
field strength.

12

a Force F = BIlsin = 0.253.00.50sin90
= 0.375N 0.38N
b Force F = BIlsin = 0.253.00.50sin45
= 0.265N 0.27N
c Current is parallel to magnetic field so force
F= 0N.
Both a and b are into the plane of the paper.

3 Pair a will repel; pair b will attract.

4 a
No force
b Force into the plane of the paper
c Force down the page
5 Force F = BIl = 0.060.202.50 = 0.030N
6 Rearrange force F = BIl to give flux density
0.015 = 0.050T
B= IlF = (1.50.20)
Q

19

18 1.6010
7 a
Current I = t = ne
= 0.16A
t = 10
1
b Force F = BIl = 0.0050.160.50 = 4.0104N
(0.40mN)

8 a
Section of wire in field tilts down
b Tilts down
c Will try to move horizontally, into horseshoe
d No movement

Force, F = BIl
= 0.0052.40.50 = 6.0103N (6.0mN)

13

They attract. If you consider each flat coil

as a small electromagnet, then unlike poles
are facing one another. If you think of the
currents in the wires, these are parallel
(rather than anti-parallel) and the coils
attract. When the current is reversed, it is
reversed in both coils and they still attract.

9 Remember the principle of moments: sum of

anticlockwise moments = sum of clockwise
moments if lever is balanced. Remember also
that force due to gravity on mass m is mg.

Cambridge International AS and A Level Physics Cambridge University Press 2014