Name : Adam Okoe Mould

Title : Magnetic Force on a Current-Carrying Conductor

Criteria : DCP, CE

Aim : To determine the relationship between current and the force on a conductor
placed in a magnetic field.

Raw Data
Current / A ± 0.05A Mass /g ± 0.01g
0.50 0.05
0.80 0.10
1.20 0.14
1.60 0.19
2.20 0.25
2.90 0.33
Observation
As the current increased the mass increased. However, the current readings were quite
unstable.

Processed Table Of Results

Mass /kg Magnetic Force on coils
Current / A ± 0.05A Mass /g ± 0.01g
± 0.00001kg /N ± 0.0001N
0.50 0.05 0.00005 0.0005
0.80 0.10 0.00010 0.0010
1.20 0.14 0.00014 0.0014
1.60 0.19 0.00019 0.0019
2.20 0.25 0.00025 0.0025
2.90 0.33 0.00033 0.0032

Calculations
∆Current = limit of reading on scale ÷ 2
= 0.1 ÷ 2

∆Mass = limit of digital reading

= ±0.01g
Mass /kg = Mass / g × 1000
∆Mass /kg = ∆Mass / g × 1000
= 0.01 × 1000
= ±0.00001kg

Force on Coil = Mass/kg × 9.81

∆ Force on Coil = ∆Mass/kg × 9.81
= 0.00001 × 9.81
= ± 0.0001 N
Analysis of Results

The accepted relationship between the force on a coil and the current is as shown below ;

F = BILNSin(θ)

Where
F = Force experienced by the coil
B = Magnetic field strength
I = Current flowing through coil
L = Length of coil in the magnetic field
N = Number turns of coil
θ = the angle between the current flowing through the conductor and the magnet coil

This formula implies that when the magnetic field strength, the length of the coil and the
angle between the current and the magnetic coil are kept constant, the force experienced
by the coil is supposed to directly proportional to the current flowing through the coil.

Hence a graph of current against magnetic force on coil will be plotted to observe the
relationship between current and force.
 Graph of current against magnetic force
Comment on graph and results
• As the current increased, the force on the coil correspondingly increased
• The line of best fit plotted through the graph shows that the current in the co
y
3

2.5

Minimum Slope
2

1.5
Line Of Best Fit

urent/A
C 1

0.5

Maximum Slope x
0.00020.00040.00060.0008 0.001 0.00120.00140.00160.0018 0.002 0.00220.00240.00260.0028 0.003 0.00320.0034
Force on the coil / N
il is directly proportional to the force on the coil as the line of best fit is a straight line passing through
the origin.
• The intercept of the maximum and minimum slopes O.22 and 0.14 from the origin are
indicative of the fairly large uncertainty due to the measuring apparatus. Hence the points
were scattered above and below the line of best fit. But as sufficient range of data was
collected a good line of best fit made up for this large uncertainty.
List of possible sources of error

1. Since the setup was recently used, the current in the circuit had previously heated
to the coils. Therefore, when experiment was performed the current would have
been affected by the rise in temperature.

List of improvements

1. Ensure that the set up being used has not been used within the 30 minutes. This
will ensure that the temperature in the coil has dropped to that of the room
temperature.

Conclusion

The current in a coil placed in a magnetic field is directly proportional to the force
experienced by the coil as the line of best fit was a straight line that passed through the
origin within the given error bars when a graph of current against force was plotted.
The experiment was susceptible to large uncertainties due to the uncertainties in the
measuring apparatus. However, since enough data was collected the errors were
overcome.
 y
8

oltage/
V
3

x
-0.05 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9 0.95 1
Current / A
Comment on Graph and Processed Results

• The graph shows that as the voltage increases, the current in the circuit reduces.
• The results are fairly precise as the points are scattered fairly close to the line of best fit.
• There was only one random error which was in the first reading.

Determination of e.m.f and Internal resistance of battery

From the line of best fit the gradient is -4.23 VA-1 and the intercept is 7.60

Gradient = -4.227
But Gradient = -r
Therefore
-r = -4.23
r = 4.23 Ohms

Hence, the internal resistance of the battery is 4.23 Ohms

Intercept = 7.60
But Intercept = e.m.f
Therefore
e.m.f = 7.60

Therefore the e.m.f of the battery is 7.60 V

Measured e.m.f - e.m.f derived from graph

Percentage error of e.m.f = × 100
Measured e.m.f
8.5 - 7.6
= × 100
8.5
= 10.6 %
This percentage error of 10.6 % in the value of the e.m.f shows that the experiment was not
very accurate but only fairly accurate.

Conclusion

Based on the graph of voltage against current, the internal resistance of the battery is 4.23
Ohms and the e.m.f is 7.60 V. The experiment was fairly accurate as there was a percentage
error of 10.6 % for the value of the e.m.f.

Sources of Error

1. During the performance of the experiment, the batteries their energy drained out
rapidly. This may have caused some errors in the experiment.
2. As the experiment progresses, the heat produced by the flow of current could have
added further errors.

Improvements to the Investigation

1. High quality batteries should be used so that the energy in the battery will last for
the whole duration of the experiment.
2. To minimize the generation of heat in the wires uses thicker wires.