Project physics

I wish to express my deep gratitude and sincere thanks to the

Principal,
Mrs. Sailaja
,
Sri Seshaas International Public School
forher encouragement and for all the facilities that she provided for thisproject
work. I sincerely appreciate this magnanimity by taking meinto her fold for which
I shall remain indebted to her. I extend myhearty thanks to
Mr. Yaseen Shaik
, physics teacher, who guided meto the successful completion of this project. I take
this opportunity toexpress my deep sense of gratitude for his invaluable
guidance,constant encouragement, constructive comments, sympatheticattitude and
immense motivation, which has sustained my efforts atall stages of this project
work.
SREE NAVANEETHA KANNA SClass XII

Table of contents
 AIM
The aim of the project is to study the Earth’s magnetic field and find its
value (BH) using a tangent galvanometer.
 TANGENT GALVNOMETRE

TOP VIEW OF TANGENT

GALVNOMET
 INTRODUCTION
Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is
themagnetic field that extends from the Earth's interior to where
it meets thesolar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating
from the Sun. Itsmagnitude at the Earth's surface ranges from 25
to 65 microteslas (0.25 to0.65 gauss).Roughly speaking it is the
field of a magnetic dipole currentlytilted at an angle of about 10
degrees with respect to Earth's rotationalaxis, as if there were a
bar magnet placed at that angle at the center of theEarth. Unlike
a bar magnet, however, Earth's magnetic field changes overtime
because it is generated by a geodynamic (in Earth's case, the
motionof molten iron alloys in its outer core).The North and
South magnetic poles wander widely, but sufficientlyslowly for
ordinary compasses to remain useful for navigation. However,at
irregular intervals averaging several hundred thousand years, the
Earth'sfield reverses and the North and South Magnetic Poles
relatively abruptlyswitch places. These reversals of the
geomagnetic poles leave a record inrocks that are of value to
paleomagnetists in calculating geomagneticfields in the past.
Such information in turn is helpful in studying themotions of
continents and ocean floors in the process of plate tectonics.The
magnetosphere is the region above the ionosphere and extends
severaltens of thousands of kilometers into space, protecting the
Earth from thecharged particles of the solar wind and cosmic
rays that would otherwisestrip away the upper atmosphere,
including the ozone layer that protectsthe Earth from harmful
ultraviolet radiation.Earth's magnetic field serves to deflect most
of the solar wind, whosecharged particles would otherwise strip
away the ozone layer that protectsthe Earth from harmful
ultraviolet radiation. One stripping mechanism isfor gas to be
caught in bubbles of magnetic field, which are ripped off bysolar
winds.The intensity of the field is often measured in gauss (G),
but is generallyreported in nanoteslas (nT), with 1 G = 100,000
nT.
A nanotesla is also referred to as a gamma (γ).The tesla is the SI
unit of the Magnetic field, B

B)The field ranges between approximately 25,000 and 65,000

nT
(0.25TO0.65G). Near the surface of the Earth, its magnetic
field can be closelyapproximated by the field of a magnetic
dipole positioned at the center ofthe Earth and tilted at an angle
of about 10° with respect to the rotationalaxis of the Earth. The
dipole is roughly equivalent to a powerful barmagnet, with its
South Pole pointing towards the geomagnetic North Pole.The
north pole of a magnet is so defined because, if allowed to
rotatefreely, it points roughly northward (in the geographic
sense). Since thenorth pole of a magnet attracts the south poles
of other magnets and repelsthe north poles, it must be attracted
to the South Pole.
 TANGENT
GALVANOMETER
Principle
The tangent galvanometer works on the principle of
tangent law.
Tangent law of Magnetism
• The tangent law of magnetism states that the tangent of
the angle ofa compass needle which is due to the
movement under the influenceof magnetic field is directly
proportional to the ratio of Strengths of two
perpendicular magnetic fields.

• In simpler words, the tangent of the angle made by the

moving needle under the magnetic field directly indicates
the strength of the perpendicular magnetic fields.
Definition
• Tangent galvanometer is the device which was used to
measure small amounts of electric current.

Construction
• The working of tangent galvanometer is based on the
principle of tangent law of magnetism.
• It consists of a coil of insulated copper wire wound on a
circular Non-magnetic frame.
• It is utmost necessary that the coil wound is done in
helical arrangement otherwise, the field due to the wire
will affect the compass needle, thus inducing an error in
the reading.
• This frame is mounted vertically on a horizontal base for
support.
• The coil of insulated copper wire is usually rotated on a
vertical axis passing through its center.
• A small sized magnetic compass with a powerful
magnetic needle is made to pivot at the center of this coil,
such that it is free to rotate in a horizontal plane.
• The circular scale is used to read the movement of this
magneticneedle which is divided into four quadrants, each
ranging from 0° to90°.
• A pointer is attached to this needle at right angles,
usually made upof thin alluminium as alluminium is
lighter in mass.
• The usual way of discarding possibilities of parallax is
also used i.e placing of a plane mirror below the compass
needle.

Working
• The instrument needle starts moving firstly under the
influence ofEarth's magnetic field.
• Movement continues untill the magnetic field of earth is
parallelwith the plane of coil.
• Then, on application of an uknown current, a second
magnetic fieldon the axis of the coil which is
perpendicular to the Earth's magneticfield is created.
• Hence the compass needle responds to the vector sum of
the twofields.
• This deflection angle is equal to the tangent of the ratio
of those twofields.

APPLICATIONS
1. T.G. can be used to measure the magnitude of the
horizontal componentof the geomagnetic field.
2. The principle can be used to compare the galvanometer
constants.
3. For calibration of secondary instruments
APPARATUS AND MATERIALS
REQUIRED
➢Tangent Galvanometer (TG),
➢Commutator (C),
➢Rheostat (R),
➢Battery (E),
➢Ammeter (A),
➢Key (K)

THEORY
Tangent galvanometer is an early measuring
instrument for small electric currents. It
consists of a coil of insulated copper wire
wound on a circular non-magnetic frame. Its
working is based on the principle of the
tangent law of magnetism. When a current is
passed through the circular coil, a magnetic
field (B) is produced at the center of the coil
in a direction perpendicular to the plane of
the coil. The TG is arranged in such a way
that the horizontal component of earth’s
magnetic field (Bh) is in the direction of the
plane of the coil. The magnetic needle is then
under the action of two mutually
perpendicular fields. If θ is the deflection of
the needle, then according to tangent law,
Let I is the current passing through the coil of
radius a with n turns, then the field generated
by the current carrying circular coil is,

Equating (1) and (2), we get,

The left hand side of equation (4) is a

constant and is called the reduction factor (K)
of the given tangent galvanometer.

Now from equation (3) & (5), the horizontal

intensity of earth’s magnetic field Bh is,