Physics IA Proposal 3 – Badhri N.

Hari
Research Topic
Finding the relation between the separation distance, shape, and angle of two like magnetic poles and
the magnitude of the repulsive force between them

Justification
This research has personal significance for me because I have always wondered how maglev (magnetic
levitation) trains have worked and doing this IA will help me to understand the basics behind how they
work.

Coulomb’s Inverse-Square Law

The law states that the magnitude of the force between two magnetic poles is the product of Coulomb’s
constant and the strengths of the poles divided by the square of the distance between the poles.

As the product of the strengths of the poles is constant throughout the experiment (as we use two
identical magnets), we can take it out of the equation, giving us an inverse relationship between the
magnetic force and distance squared.

From this relationship, we can sketch an exponential graph to support the below hypothesis.

Hypothesis
Increasing the separation distance between two identical magnetic poles should lead to a decrease in
the repulsive magnetic force, as shown by the graph depicting the proportionality relation between the
magnitude of repulsive magnetic force and the distance between poles. This can also be confirmed by
Figure 5 of this paper (paper is available for free on ResearchGate).

The effect of changing the angle between the two magnets and using differently shaped magnets will
have to be determined experimentally due to lack of literature. (as per the below diagram setup).

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Methodology
The methodology from this experiment will be used for the distance measurements. A similar procedure
will be used for the angle measurements:

1. The ruler will be placed on top of a piece of paper.

2. A protractor will be used to mark the angles from the lower end of the ruler.
3. Then the magnet will be attached to the lower end of the ruler so that the bottom side of the
magnet is on the mark.