EXPERIMENTAL REPORT ON

SPECIFIC CHARGE (e/m) OF

ELECTRONS
SATYAKI CHOWDHURY

Roll-18134002
GENERAL PHYSICS LAB

SPS,NISER

August 22, 2018

1
1 OBJECTIVE OF THE EXPERIMENT
• Determination of the specific charge of the electron
(e/m) from the path of an electron beam in crossed
electric and magnetic fields of variable strength.
• Determination of magnetic field B as a function of
acceleration potential U of the electrons at a con-
stant radius r.
• Determination of the Earth’s magnetic field.

2 APPARATUS USED IN THE EXPERIMENT

• Narrow Beam Tube
• Pair of Helmholtz Coils
• Power Supply, 0-600V Dc and universal
• Digital Multimeter
• Connecting Cords

2
3 THEORY
3.1 Charged particle in a magnetic field acceler-
ated by a potential :
An electron moving at velocity v perpendicularly to a
homogeneous magnetic field B, is subject to a Lorentz
force F, given by

F~ = e · (~v × B]
~ −→ (1)

(e being the charge on an electron), which is perpendicu-

lar to the velocity and to the magnetic field. The electron
takes a circular path with axis of the circle defined by the
direction of magnetic field. The Lorentz force provides
the centripetal force which forces the electron into an
orbit of radius r.
v2
F = me · −→ (2)
r
thus
e v
= −→ (3)
me r·B

3.2 Electrons accelerated through a po-

tential U
kinetic energy of the electrons accelerated by a potential
U is
me · v 2
e·U = −→ (4)
2
from equations (3) and (4) we get
e 2·U
= −→ (5)
me (r.B)2
3
3.3 Magnetic field generated in a pair of
helmholtz coils
The magnetic field generated by a single coil of radius R
carrying current and having N turns is given by
µ0 IN R2
B= 3 −→ (6)
2(R2 + X 2 ) 2
we need to calculate the magnetic field due to both the
coils at x = R2 away from each coil. This is given by
2µ0 IN R2 4 3 µ0 IN
B= 3 = ( )
2 = kI −→ (7)
2(R2 + X 2 ) 2 5 R
3
where k=( 45 ) 2 µ0RIN , µ0 = 1.2566 × 10−6 N/A2 .
The field B generated by a pair of Helmholtz coil is
proportional to the current I in the coils.
B = kI
if the expression for magnetic field is plugged into equa-
tion 5,the resulting expression is
2·U
e/me = −→ (8)
(r · k · I)2

3.4 Determination of the Earth’s magnetic field

:
The earth’s magnetic field is calculated using the follow-
ing relation
q q
Uparallel − Uantiparallel
Be = C · −→ (9)
2
where Uparallel and Uantiparallel are r
the anode potential
2
required to hit the rung R and C = e/m · R1

4
4 CIRCUIT DIAGRAMS

Figure 1: Circuit diagram for the connection of Helmholtz

coil

Figure 2: Circuit diagram for the connection of discharge

tube.

5
5 OBSERVATIONS
• No of turns in the Helmholtz coil,N=154
• Radius of the Helmholtz Coil=0.20 m
• Permeability of free space, µ0 = 1.2566 × 10−6
• Cathode Voltage fixed at=40 V
• k = 6.923 × 104 N/A2 − m

5.1 Data Tables

TABLE 1: I vs U

U(V) r=0.02m r=0.03m r=0.04m r=0.05m

I(A) I(A) I(A) I(A)
100 2.492 1.228 1.016 0.847
120 2.703 1.661 1.226 0.982
140 2.955 1.839 1.359 1.092
160 3.178 2.053 1.493 1.179
180 3.372 2.171 1.599 1.266

6
 TABLE 2: U vs R

Current Through the Helmholtz Coil= 1.5 A

R(m) C using (e/m) U (volts) with U (volts) with Be (gauss)

value from BH and Be BH and Be
graph for parallel antiparallel
r=0.02m
0.02 1.77×10−4 82 74 0.40
0.03 1.18×10−4 121 106 0.41
0.04 8.866×10−5 187 165 0.37
0.05 7.093×10−5 273 243 0.33

7
8 CALCULATIONS:

Table for determination of (e/m) from graphs

r Slope from (e/m)

Graphs
(m) As/kg×1011
0.02 15.228 1.59
0.03 24.800 1.15
0.04 52.762 1.38
0.05 90.895 1.52

Table for determining the magnetic field of the coil for r=0.02m

U B
(V) (Tesla) ×10−3
100 1.77
120 1.94
140 2.09
160 2.24
180 2.38

9 ERROR CALCULATION

Percentage error in determining the value of e/m

(originalvalue−experimentalvalue)
error= originalvalue × 100 = 9.66.

Thus the error in determining the value of e/m is about

10 percent.

8
6 GRAPHS

Figure 3: Graph of U vs I 2 for r=0.05m

9
Figure 4: Graph of U vs I 2 for r=0.04m

10
Figure 5: Graph of U vs I 2 for r=0.03m

11
 Figure 6: Graph of U vs I 2 for r=0.02m

7 CONCLUSIONS:
• The (e/m) ratio was found to be 1.59 ×1011 As/kg
from a suitable graph using r=0.02m.
• The magnetic field of the earth was correctly verified
to lie within 0.25-0.65 gauss.
• The magnetic field of the Helmholtz coil was found
increase with the increase in the potential difference
for a constant radius of12the electron.