Problem Creator: Oki Gunawan & Yudistira Virgus

Experiment 2:
Pencil In A Magnetic Trap
1 APPARATUS
1. Cylinder magnet 25.4 mm long x 6.3 mm diameter ( 2 pcs)

2. Pencil leads, size : 0.3, 0.7, 0.9 mm diameter (4 mm long 2 pcs each), 0.5 mm diameter (60
mm long 2 pcs).

3. Tweezer (1 pc)

4. Toothpicks (3 pcs)

5. Platform (1 pc)

6. Magnetic pendulum assembly (1 set)

7. Acrylic sticks (5 pcs, various length)

8. Scissor (1 pc)

9. Stopwatch (1 pc)

10. Ruler (15 cm)

Scissor
Platform

Stop Watch

Toothpicks
Tweezer
0.9 mm
0.7 mm
0.5 mm
0.3 mm

Card Stacks

Ruler

Acrylic Sticks

Figure 1: Experimental setup.

Experiment 2: Pencil In A Magnetic Trap Page 1 of 8

Problem Creator: Oki Gunawan & Yudistira Virgus

Experiment 2:
Pencil In A Magnetic Trap

IMPORTANT EXPERIMENTAL DATA:

Magnetic permeability in vacuum : µ0 = 1.257 × 10−6 H/m

Local earth magnetic field (horizontal component) : BE = 38.320 µT
Mass density of Acrylic stick : ρs = 1178.5 kg/m3
Diameter of the stick : ds = 3 mm
Mass density of pencil : ρP = 1770 kg/mm

2 INTRODUCTION
Magnetic trap is a very useful system in physics which is used to trap matter like molecules, atoms,
or subatomic particles for various research and applications. The trap suspends (or levitates) the
matter in free space isolating them from the environment. This allows us to study various physical
characteristics of the trapped matter.
In this experiment we will study a very simple and fascinating magnetic trap system using items
familiar to you: pencils and magnets.
If you put the pencil in between the magnet as shown below, the pencil will levitate, floating in
free space. Both magnets are identical and they have uniform diametric magnetization M which
means the magnetization is along the diameter (or x-axis) of the magnet as shown in Fig. 2(c). The
magnetization M is defined as volume (V ) density of the magnetic moment (m), i.e. M = m/V .

Figure 2: (a) Experimental setup (b) Cross-section view of the experimental setup (c) Diametric
magnetization of the magnet.

You will observe that the pencil is confined in all three directions. It is strongly confined or
trapped in the x and y direction, and weakly confined in z direction forming a one–dimensional
potential well.
Let’s explore the interesting physics of this magnetic trap. We will also attempt to measure the

Experiment 2: Pencil In A Magnetic Trap Page 2 of 8

Problem Creator: Oki Gunawan & Yudistira Virgus

Experiment 2:
Pencil In A Magnetic Trap
magnetic susceptibility χ of the pencil which is defined as: χ = µr − 1, where µr is the magnetic
permeability.

Notice:
Error analysis is not required in this experiment.
3 EXPERIMENT & QUESTIONS

A. Introduction (2 points)
If you touch a paper clip with a magnet, then the paper clip becomes magnetized and it will
attract another paper clip. In general, any material with magnetic permeability µr in a uniform
magnetic field B will become magnetized with magnetization M, which is the volume density of
the magnetic moment: M = m/V . For example, for a cylindrical object like pencil with relative
magnetic permeability µr in a uniform magnetic field B as shown below, it will experience an
induced magnetization M given as:

2 χ
M= B (1)
µ0 χ + 2

The direction of the induced magnetization M depends on the relative magnetic permeability
of the material that determines the type of magnetic material:

1. Ferromagnet (µr > 1 or χ > 0)

2. Paramagnet (µr ∼ 1 or χ ∼ 0)

3. Diamagnet (µr < 1 or χ < 0)

A.1. Sketch roughly how the magnetic field is distributed around a single and a pair of cylindrical
magnets below (cross section are shown). Note that the cylinder magnet is uniformly magne-
tized indicated by the arrow where N is the North pole of the magnet and S is the South pole.
(0.8 points)

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Problem Creator: Oki Gunawan & Yudistira Virgus

Experiment 2:
Pencil In A Magnetic Trap

A.2. In the case of a pair of diametric magnets, the magnetic field along y axis at the center (x = 0)
is given as:
a4 y2
 
B = µ0 M 2 1 − 2 x̂ (2)
(a + y 2 )2 a

where M is the magnetization of the magnets and a is the radius of the cylindrical magnet.
Sketch the magnetic field (B) distribution along y axis! (0.5 points)

A.3. How can the pencil levitate? Draw and write down the forces working on the pencil!
(0.4 points)

A.4. Deduce what kind of magnetic material is the pencil: a ferromagnet, paramagnet or diamag-
net?
(0.3 points)

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Problem Creator: Oki Gunawan & Yudistira Virgus

Experiment 2:
Pencil In A Magnetic Trap
Warning/Instruction:

1. The magnets are very strong. Separate the magnet carefully by twisting the magnet pairs
as shown above.
2. Use one magnet for the compass/torsional pendulum setup (use the one without the ruler
on it) and place another one at least 80 cm away. Plug the magnet (without the ruler on it)
into the wooden fixture as shown in Fig. 3.
3. Put away all metallic or magnetic objects (e.g. scissor) from the magnet in the pendulum
setup so they will not interfere with the magnet oscillation.
4. The magnets are fragile ! Once you are ready for the next experiment. Please join the
magnets by bringing the magnets carefully by holding the magnets slowly. If they collide
with each other they may break!

B. Magnetic moment of the magnet (2 points)

The height where the pencil levitates (y0 ) depends on the strength” of the magnet i.e. its magnetic
moment mM . We will measure mM using a compass experiment by hanging the magnet and
measuring its oscillation period as shown below:
Plug the magnet into the fixture as shown and the system will act as a compass that aligns and
oscillates towards the earth’s magnetic field. The acrylic stick helps us to track the orientation of
the compass. This oscillation has a period:
r
IT otal
T = 2π (3)
mM BE
where BE is the local earth’s magnetic field and IT otal is the total moment inertia of the system
given as : IT otal = IM AGN ET + IF IXT U RE + IST ICK . Note that we do not need to know
IM AGN ET and IF IXT U RE in order to calculate mM .
The moment inertia of the stick (mounted centered to the fixture as shown below) is given as:
1
IST ICK = ms Is2 (4)
12

Experiment 2: Pencil In A Magnetic Trap Page 5 of 8

Problem Creator: Oki Gunawan & Yudistira Virgus

Experiment 2:
Pencil In A Magnetic Trap

Acrylic

Figure 3: The Compass experiment or torsional pendulum setup.

where mS is the mass of the acrylic stick and lS is the length of the stick. The relevant data are
given in Constants and Data section
B.1. Perform experiment to determine the magnetic moment of the magnet mM ! (1.8 points)
B.2. Calculate the volume magnetization of the magnet M = mM /V where V is the volume of the
magnet. (0.2 points)

C. The levitating pencil (2 points)

The interaction between the magnetized pencil and the magnetic field along y–axis [Fig. 2(b)] has
a potential energy U = −mp · B, where mp is the induced magnetic moment of the pencil. This
potential energy can be expressed as (excluding gravity):

4 2 2 2


2 χ 2a a − y
U (y) = −2πb l µ0 M (5)
χ+2 (a2 + y 2 )4
where M is the magnetization of the magnet, b is the radius of pencil, l is the pencils length, and
χ is the magnetic susceptibility of the pencil.
In this experiment you are provided with different diameters of pencils: 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9 mm
already cut with approximately l = 4 mm. The mass density of the pencil (ρP ) is given in the
Constants and Data section.
C.1. Measure the levitating or equilibrium height (yeq ) of the pencils with various diameters!
(0.4 points)
C.2. Does yeq depends on the diameter of the pencil? Deduce theoretically using Eq. (5) above! Is
this consistent with your experimental result? (0.4 points)
C.3. From the experiment, deduce the magnetic susceptibility (χ) of the pencil! (1.2 points)

Experiment 2: Pencil In A Magnetic Trap Page 6 of 8

Problem Creator: Oki Gunawan & Yudistira Virgus

Experiment 2:
Pencil In A Magnetic Trap
D. The one–dimensional potential well : Stability & Profile (2
points)
We will investigate the one-dimensional potential along the z– axis which because of its shape is
called a “camel-back ” potential in physics. Note that the plot in Fig. 4 below is for potential per
unit length. In this experiment you can use the name cards to tilt the platform if needed.

Figure 4: The “camel back” potential along the z–axis.

D.1. Investigate experimentally the range of pencil length l where the pencil levitates in stable
condition. Is there any critical length(s) where the pencil is no longer in stable levitation?
Note: You can cut the pencil to any length l. Use 0.5 mm diameter pencil.
(0.6 points)

D.2. For the critical length(s) you find above, explain with mostly diagram and few words, why
the pencil no longer levitates beyond this (these) critical length(s)? (0.4 points)

D.3. Perform experiment to deduce the peak position zP (measured from the center of the magnet).
Compare your finding with part (1) above. (0.5 points)
Note: Use 0.5 mm diameter pencil with 4 mm length.

D.4. Perform experiment to deduce the potential depth ∆U ! (0.5 points)

Note: Use 0.5 mm diameter pencil with 4 mm length.

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Problem Creator: Oki Gunawan & Yudistira Virgus

Experiment 2:
Pencil In A Magnetic Trap
E. Oscillation in the one-dimensional potential well (2 points)
In this final section we will investigate the longitudinal oscillation of the pencil along the camel-
back potential and deduce the magnetic susceptibility of the magnet again.
The exact one–dimensional potential has a complicated form, however, we can approximate this
potential in the well region as shown in Fig. 4(b) (−7 mm < z < 7 mm) as:

U (z) = c0 + c2 z 2 + c4 z 4 (6)

where c0 , c2 and c4 are constants and z = 0 is the mid–point of the magnets (the point that divides
each magnet equally in length). This form of potential can reproduce the real potential very well
except at the regions close to the ends of the magnets (|z| > 7 mm).
The constant c0 is irrelevant because it will not affect the shape of the potential, c4 is unknown
but c2 is given as:
χ
c2 = −439πb2 l µ0 M 2 (7)
χ+2
In this experiment, use 0.5 mm diameter pencils.

E.1. Using Eq. 6 and 7 and assuming c4 = 0, derive the period of oscillation of pencil along the
z–axis! Does the period depend on the pencil length? (0.7 points)

E.2. Measure the period of the oscillations of pencil for various pencil lengths up to l = 14 mm.
Does the period depend on the length of the pencil? (0.7 points)

E.3. From your oscillation measurement, calculate the magnetic susceptibility χ of the pencil again!
(0.6 points)

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