Physics 15b Assignment #13

By Monday May 9, read Chapter 11 Purcell.

Q&A questions to be answered on the Physics 15b website before 11pm on Monday, May
9:

13QA.1. What is the best answer to problem 11.6 in Purcell?

A: I  24; 000 amp, and the field at 2 meters is larger than the earth’s field.
B: I  24; 000 amp, and the field at 2 meters is smaller than the earth’s field.
C: I  480; 000 amp, and the field at 2 meters is larger than the earth’s field.
D: I  480; 000 amp, and the field at 2 meters is smaller than the earth’s field.
E: None of the above.

13QA.2. Which is the best answer to Problem 11.24 in Purcell?

A :  220 amp
B :  2:2 amp
C :  0:22 amp
D:  0:022 amp
E : None of the above.

In addition, there are some survey questions and feedback questions.

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 Problems due at the beginning of class on Thursday, May 12 —

13.1. Do problem 11.15 in Purcell.

In magnetite, Fe3 O4 , the saturation magnetization, M0 , in CGS units, is 480 erg/gauss-

cm3 . The magnetic bacteria discovered in 1975 by R. P. Blakemore contains crystals
of magnetite, approximately cubical, of dimension 5  10 6 cm. A bacterium, itself
about 10 4 cm in size, may contain from 10 to 20 such crystals strung out as a chain.
This magnet keeps the whole cell aligned with the earth’s magnetic field, and thus
controls the direction in which the bacterium swims. See “Magnetic Navigation in
Bacteria” by R. P. Blakemore and R. B. Frankel, Scientific American, December 1981.
Calculate the energy involved in rotating a cell containing such a magnet through 90
in the earth’s field, and compare it with the energy of thermal agitation, kT .

This is more plug and chug than most of our problems, but the subject is so interesting that I
couldn’t resist. You should certainly make it more interesting by carefully explaining all the as-
sumptions you make. One could also ask a number of evolution/physics questions about this
system. Why, for example, has evolution chosen crystals of this particular size and shape for the
bacterium?

13.2. Do problem 11.25 in Purcell.

For deflecting a beam of high-energy particles in a certain experiment one requires a

magnetic field of 16; 000-gauss intensity, maintained over a rectangular region 3 me-
ters long in the beam direction, 60 cm wide, and 20 cm high. A suitable magnet might
be designed along the lines indicated in parts (a) and (b) of the figure. Taking the
dimensions as given, determine (1) the total amount of ampere-turns requred in the
two coils to produce a 16-kilogauss field in the gap; (2) the power in kilowatts that
must be supplied; (3) the number of turns that each could should contain, and the cor-
responding cross-sectional area of the wire, so that the desired field will be attained
when the coils are connected in series to a 400-volt dc power supply. For use in (1),
a postion of the B -H curve for Armco magnet iron is shown in part (d) of the figure.
All that you need to determine in the line integral of H around a path like abcdea. In
the gap, H = B . In the iron, you may assume that B has the same intensity as in the
gap. The field lines will look something like those in part (c) of the figure. You can
estimate roughly the length of path in the iron. This is not very critical, for you will
find that the long path bcdea contributes a relatively small amount to the line integral,
compared wit the contribution of the air path ab. (In fact, it is not a bas approximation,
at lower field strengths, to neglect H in the iron.) For (2) assume the resistivity of
copper  = 2:0  10 6 ohm-cm, and let each coil contain N turns. You will find that
the power required for a given number of ampere turns is independent of N ; that is, it
is the same for many turns of fine wire or a few turns of thick wire, providing the total
cross section of copper is fixed and specified. The designer therefore selects N and
conductor cross section to match the magnet to the intended power source.

2
13.3. An infinite thin wire carrying current I runs through the center axis of a solid cylinder
with radius R and length `. We choose the coordinate system to put the wire along the z axis with
the center of the cylinder at the origin, as shown in the figure.
.
" ..... I
....
...
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..
.
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.
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.
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.... R
............................................................................................................
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............................................................................................................. ................... z = `=2
........... . .. ... ... .......
.. ........... ..... .
.. ...............
.... .. .. .. ... .. .. ............ ... `
.. ...................... ..................... .. .........
...................................
... ............................................................................................................................................ .. .................. z = `=2
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Now suppose that our cylinder is made of a continuous material whose magnetic susceptibility
depends on the distance from the z axis, as
8
>
< f (r) for r2  R2 and `=2  z  `=2
m (~r ) = > (13.3.1)
: 0 otherwise

where q
r = x2 + y 2 (13.3.2)
is the perpendicular distance from the z axis.

3-a. Find the magnetization in Cartesian coordinates everywhere and justify your result.

3-b. Assuming that the function f (r) is continuous for 0<r<R, find the bound current every-
where and justify your result.