IE.

1 The Earth 's Magnetic Field

1. Purpose:
To measure the magnitude and direction of the earth magnetic field.

2. Apparatus: Earth inductor (flip coil),

Helmholtz coil, mutual inductance coil, galvanometer, current controlled power supply, bipolar switch, resistor box, multimeter.

3. Introduction:
n this experiment, an earth inductor is used to measure the earth magnetic field B. The earth inductor is a !flip coil! "" it consists of a flat coil of wire of many turns mounted on a frame so that it can be made to #uic$ly rotate (!flip!) about one of its diameters. %uring this rotation, the magnetic flux through the coil changes, inducing a voltage &'(. The total charge from the resulting current pulse can be measured, e.g. with a ballistic galvanometer. The deflection of the galvanometer can be shown to be proportional to the magnitude of the component of the earth)s field perpendicular to the coil.

4. E peri!ental setup and procedure*

The table on which the apparatus sits has mar$ers on the table surface which allow the flip"coil to be aligned with the + " , and E " - directions.

4.1 Measurement of the earth magnetic field components:

.onnect the coil of the flip"coil to the galvanometer via a current"limiting series resistor /' of about 011 to '111 2. 3easure the deflection d caused by flipping the coil at least five times. %o this for three orientations of the coil, with the coils axis vertical, parallel to the meridian (+ " ,), and perpendicular to the meridian (pointing east " west), to measure the three components of the earth magnetic field vector. -hen the coil is flipped in a magnetic field then the E34 produced is E34 5 n d6dt (') where n 5 number of turns in the coil, 5 flux through the coil

This E34 must e#ual the potential drop around the circuit* n d6dt 5 iT/' (7) where iT 5 current in the circuit.

'

The total charge that flows into the galvanometer during the flip is obtained by integrating over the duration of the flip* 8 5 iTdt 5 (n6/') (9) 4or a ':1 flip, 5 7;e<, where ;e 5 component of the earth)s field perpendicular to the coil, < 5 area of the coil (=)

Then* 8 5 (n6/')(7;e<)

+ow a ballistic galvanometer)s deflection is proportional to the charge that flows through it d 5 >8 Then d6> 5 (n6/') (7;e<) ;e 5 d /' 6(7n<>) (?) where d 5 deflection, > 5 proportionality constant (@) or (0)

This e#uation relates the component of the earth)s field ;e to the deflection of the galvanometer d. However, although n, <, and /' can be measured, > is still un$nown. Therefore, a method of calibration of the instrument is needed.

4.2. Calibration of the flip coil with a known mutual induction pair:

B 5 ;allistic Balvanometer ,' 5 ;ipolar switch ,7 5 ,horting switch /' 5 .urrent limiting resistor ,... 5 ,econdary coil A... 5 Arimary coil /7 5 A... current adCust ,9 5 ,witch < 5 <mmeter

The bottom circuit (one with ,9 and power supply) is a calibration circuit. f ,9 is closed, a current will begin to flow in the circuit. ,... and A... are the secondary and primary coil in a mutual induction pair. Thus as the current changes in the bottom circuit an E34 is produced in the top circuit. E34 5 3 di;6dt 5 i/' (:) where 3 5 mutual inductance between A... and ,... i; 5 current in bottom circuit i 5 current in top circuit
7

Dsing similar arguments as before it can be shown that 8 5 3i;6/' (E) where 8 5 induced charge flow in top circuit

This also gives a deflection for the galvanometer* dc 5 >8 ('1) where dc 5 calibration deflection, > 5 the same proportionality constant as above Then > 5 dc68 5 &dc6(3i;)( /' ,ubstituting into E#uation (0)* ;e 5 &d/'6(7n<)( &3i;6(dc/')( 5 &3i;6(7n<)( (d6dc) ('7) which can then be used to get an absolute value for ;. ('')

4.3 Calibration using a known B - field change

< second calibration procedure may also be used. ,uppose the earth inductor (flip coil) is placed in a $nown magnetic field such as that generated by a Helmholtz coil. f this field is suddenly shut off, an E34 will be induced in the earth indicator coil* E34 5 n dc6dt ('9) where c 5 the calibration flux

Dsing the same argument as above it can be shown that ;c 5 dc/'6(n<>) ('=) where ;c 5 calibration field dc 5 calibration deflection of the galvanometer

Then substituting E#. ('=) into E#. (0) ;e 5 &d/'6(7n<)( &n<;c6(dc/')( 5 ;c d6(7dc) ('?)

4.4 Calibration using a known B - field

< third calibration method consists in placing the flip coil (earth inductor) into a $nown magnetic field (e.g. from a Helmholtz coil), and measuring the effect of flipping the coil in the total magnetic field (which is now the sum of the earth magnetic field and the field due to the Helmholtz coil). 3easure the deflection several (at least '1) times, for a number of current values in the Helmholtz coil. Fou should choose the current values so as to cover as wide a range of deflections as possible (limited by the maximum deflection that you can measure with the galvanometer). +ote that the total field component perpendicular to the coil, as well as the total deflection are algebraic sums (i.e. sums of signed #uantities) of the individual contributions from the earth
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magnetic field and the calibration field. -e have* ;t 5 ;e G ;h, dt 5 de G dh,

where ;t is the total magnetic field, is the ($nown) field due to the Helmholtz coil, and is the earth magnetic field (or rather their components perpendicular to the flip coil), and the d)s are the corresponding deflections. ;t 5 dt/'6(n<>) 5 (de G dh ) /'6(n<>) ;e 5 de/'6(n<>) Therefore and finally ;h 5 ;t " ;e 5 (dt " de ) /'6(n<>) ;e 5 ;h de 6 (dt " de ) ('@)

('0), (':)

<nother way to write this is ;e 5 . de , where the constant . is given by . 5 ;h 6 (dt " de )H ........... ('E) This constant . can be determined from the calibration measurements (using the deflection de measured for the earth)s vertical field component), and can then be applied also to the other two components of the earth magnetic field. 4or every non"zero value of (and thus ;h), measurement of dt gives you a measurement of the calibration constant ., using de determined from the measurement with 5 1. Dse the average of all of these in your analysis. E#uation ('E) can also be written as dt 5 (;h 6.) " de ,.............................. (71) a form which shows you that another way to obtain . and de is to plot dt (y"axis) vs ;h (x"axis). The slope of the best straight line through these points is '6., and the intercept is de . ,pread sheet programs li$e 3,Excel offer the possibility to plot the !trendline! which is the best straight line through the data points, and to determine the parameters of the line. The field of the Helmholtz coil can be obtained using the formula
= :1 a '7?

where + 5 number of turns in each coil, 5 current through the coils in amperes, a 5 radius of coils in meters, and o 5 permeability of free space.

". #uggested Procedure:

Aosition the table on which the apparatus sits such that it has a $nown orientation with respect to the laboratory (align it with the wall for example). .onnect the ballistic galvanometer to the flip coil through a current"limiting resistor (about ?11 to '111 2), with the value chosen so as to put the deflection within the range. 3easure the components of the earth)s field. 3easure each component
=

enough times to get reasonable statistics. .alibrate using one of the methods outlined above. 3a$e sure that you have the same resistor(s) in the flip coil circuit for the calibration as for the earth magnetic field measurement. <gain, do enough measurements to give reasonable statistics. .alculate the total field and its direction. %o a complete error analysis. .ompare with the earth magnetic field values expected for your location&7(. %iscuss agreement and6or disagreement , ta$ing into account the experimental uncertainty of your measurement.

$. %eter!ination o& e peri!ental uncertainties (!Error <nalysis!)*

Here are guidelines for the determination of uncertainties, assuming you used the calibration method described in sect. =.= (calibration with a $nown magnetic field). @.' Dncertainty on individual measurements of .* 3a$e sensible assumptions6guesses about the precision with which you measure the deflections, the current and the radius of the Helmholtz coil. Dsing !error propagation!, this can be translated into an uncertainty on the individual measurements of .. %o this for every determination of ., and ta$e the average of all of these uncertainties. @.7 <nother way to get an estimate of the uncertainty on . is by using the fact that you have multiple measurements of the same #uantity .. The standard deviation gives you a measure for the uncertainty on .. @.9 4rom the best straight line through the points representing your measurements of dt and ;h, you can also determine . ('6slope) and de (the intercept), as well as an uncertainty on these. Fou should compare the values obtained by the different methods and discuss their relative merit.

' (e&erences:
&'( -illiam ;. 4retter, ntroduction to experimental physics, %over 'E@: &7( ,ee geomagnetic data at the -ebsite of +ational Beophysical %ata .enter, (http*66www.ngdc.noaa.gov6seg6potfld6geomag.shtml)