ERIC Number: EJ1124201
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Jan
Pages: 3
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-921X
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Flux Redux: The Spinning Coil Comes around Again
Lund, Daniel; Dietz, Eric; Zou, Xueli; Ard, Christopher; Lee, Jaydie; Kaneshiro, Chris; Blanton, Robert; Sun, Steven
Physics Teacher, v55 n1 p41-43 Jan 2017
An essential laboratory exercise for our lower-division electromagnetism course involves the measurement of Earth's local magnetic field from the emf induced in a rotating coil of wire. Although many methods exist for the measurement of Earth's field, this one gives our students some practical experience with Faraday's law. The apparatus we had been using previously for this activity, as has been described in "TPT," is a coil driven by an electric motor at constant angular speed with its axis aligned vertically or horizontally. The emf produced was then used to calculate values for the components of the B field. Although this has produced acceptable results, the rotators have proven to be noisy, both electrically and acoustically, as well as somewhat hazardous. Additionally, the effect of stray fields from magnetic materials in the base and housing of the rotator on our measurements has not been quantitatively assessed. Now worn badly by decades of use, these units are prohibitively expensive to replace. In response to this situation, we have designed, built, and tested a quieter, greener, and more compact apparatus that can be produced cost effectively. As part of the experimental design, we have removed the constraint of constant angular rotation rate for the coil; this turns out to provide a much richer data analysis experience for students.
Descriptors: Research Design, Data Analysis, Engines, Science Education, Science Instruction, Laboratories
American Association of Physics Teachers. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Tel: 301-209-3300; Fax: 301-209-0845; e-mail: pubs@aapt.org; Web site: http://scitation.aip.org/tpt
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A