Magnetic Flux Density Lab Report

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Physics PSOW: F = BIL
Introduction:
An experiment is set up to determine the flux density from an experiment, where the current, the length of wire and force is calculated to find the flux density.
Independent Variable: Current applied to the circuit (only variable will be changed, so that the experiment can be kept fair).
Dependent Variable: Change in mass, or the decrease in mass as mass never increased but only decreased throughout the experiment.
Controlled Variable: There was only one controlled variable for the experiment, which was the length of the wire used. This was in the path of the magnetic field. The length was kept constant throughout the experiment at 4.92 ± 0.05cm. This was the suitable length needed for this experiment …show more content…

In this case the graph was plotted with average force (y – axis) against current (x – axis), this was done as length stayed constant throughout the experiment. The gradient of a graph with the axes as so, would give the magnetic flux density multiplied by the length of wire (linear relationship as it is F/I). The calculations turned out to provide a very minute answer for the magnetic flux density, therefore the uncertainties shown on the graph can be seen as significant. But by calculating the gradients of the graph using (y1-y2)/(x1-x2), there was a maximum and minimum gradient due to the uncertainties of mass and current. When averaging the maximum and minimum gradient, the resulting value provides the force divided by current value as per the axes on the graph. Therefore, if this value is divided by the length of the wire, the flux density will be found, which was 1.7212 Tesla. The absolute uncertainty is ±0.2699 T (±15.682 %) because the change in mass and current has an adverse effect on the final …show more content…

As magnetic field lines go from north to south, with magnets (also small curvature around). The metal rod was not able to prevent or absorb all of this. Therefore this would have had an influence in the readings obtained in the ammeter. Once, more this can be associated with a systematic error, even if improvements are made to cover a larger area. There is never a possibility for the metal rod to absorb all the magnetic field lines. This could have affected the final value as all the lines were not cut, as the rod only covered the middle/dense areas. Once again, this will mean that the experiment is not as precise or accurate it could have been. So, this will affect the values obtained for current, and consequently affecting the final value. (Systematic

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