Catapult Description of Magnetic Fields and Forces

McCall, Martin W. and Kinsler, Paul and Tymms, Vijay (2020) Catapult Description of Magnetic Fields and Forces. Physics Teacher, 58. pp. 416-417. ISSN 1943-4928

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1119/10.0001840

Abstract

In many high school teaching materials the force on a current-carrying wire in a magnetic field is discussed using an idea based on a so-called “catapult field” (cf. Fig. 1), an engaging depiction of magnetic forces, albeit one which, to the best of our knowledge, has neither been used in college-level educational material or scrutinized in academic journals. Here we examine carefully the physical basis of the “catapult field” concept, and find both its accuracy and utility seriously questionable.

Item Type:

Journal Article

Journal or Publication Title:

Physics Teacher

Additional Information:

Copyright 2019 American Institute of Physics. The following article https://aapt.scitation.org/doi/10.1119/10.0001840 This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.

Departments:

Faculty of Science and Technology > Physics

ID Code:

143600

Deposited By:

ep_importer_pure

Deposited On:

29 Apr 2020 15:25

Refereed?:

Yes

Published?:

Published

Last Modified:

17 Sep 2023 02:49

URI:

https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/143600