Ampere's Law and Magnetic Field Strength
This lesson includes a demonstration of the force between two current carrying loops and a comparison of this phenomena with the attractive and repulsive forces exerted by permanent magnets. A formal lecture on Ampere's law is included which includes calculus; the algebra-based physics teacher will want to simplify this by omitting the derivation and presenting just the Ampere's Law formula. The student calculates the field around a toroid as part of this activity.
Students should understand the attractive and repulsive forces that exist between magnets due to their orientation with respect to each other. The same phenomena exists whether or not the magnets are permanent magnets or electromagnets. This activity delves fairly deeply into the calculation of the strength of the magnetic field due to the magnitude of the flowing charge, or current. The lesson plan is at the AP Physics C level. If modified, it can be used in AP Physics B or regular physics classes.
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