v + −

v
R
Figure 1: The electron and proton of question 4.

Electric and Magnetic Fields - Exercises 6

Friday 13th March 2020

Chris White (christopher.white@qmul.ac.uk)

Questions marked with (†) are meant to be more challenging. Please let me know of any typing errors and
/ or other mistakes.

1. An electron undergoes circular motion in a magnetic field of 1T with a speed of 0.5c, where c '
3 × 108 ms−1 is the speed of light. Find the radius of the circle, and the period of the motion.

2. The magnetic field at a position x generated by a charge q moving with velocity v at position x0 is
given by
µ0 q v × (x − x0 )
B= ,
4π |x − x0 |3
where µ0 is a constant called the permeability of free space.

Now consider two particles with charge q1 and q2 , located at x1 and x2 , and moving with velocities v1
and v2 . Show that the magnetic force on the charge q2 due to q1 is given by

µ0 q1 q2 v2 × [v1 × (x2 − x1 )]
F21 = .
4π |x2 − x1 |3

3. (†) Is Newton’s third law obeyed by the magnetic force between two charged particles? If it is not true
in general, find special cases in which it does apply. Is it a problem if it is not obeyed?
4. An electron and a proton are separated by a distance R, and moving at speed v in opposite directions,
as shown in figure 1. What are the magnitudes of the electric, magnetic and gravitational forces acting
on them, and how do they compare in size for reasonable velocities?