Lesson Plan: Motion of Charged Particles in Uniform Magnetic Fields
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to determine the magnetic forces on charged particles in uniform magnetic fields and the motion produced by these forces.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- model an electric current as a one-dimensional beam of charged particles by using the equation , where is the current, is the charge of a particle, is the velocity of a particle, and is the number of particles in a length of the beam,
- combine the equation with the equation to obtain the force on a single electrically charged particle moving freely in a uniform magnetic field, ,
- recognize that as the direction of the instantaneous magnetic force on a freely moving charged particle in a uniform magnetic field is perpendicular to the direction of the instantaneous velocity of the particle, the particle will follow a circular path within a uniform magnetic field,
- relate the equation of the centripetal force on a particle to the magnetic force equation to show that and hence, that .
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- magnetic field lines,
- ,
- centripetal force calculations.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- the electromagnetic radiation emitted due to the acceleration of electric charges.
