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Faradays Law: The moving metal bar

Consider a movable metal bar of length l installed on a very very long U-


shaped metal frame. The bar and the frame together have a resistance R. At
a distance a away from the closed end of the frame, there is a region of length
b that has a magnetic field of B. The metal bar is initially at the closed end of
the metal bar, then you gives it a constant velocity v toward the open end of
the frame, and you want to observe what will happen.

(a) Draw a clear picture of the bar, the frame and the magnetic field. Label
all the physical quantities by their symbols on your picture.

(b) As you move the bar away from its initial position from the closed end,
what do you expect to see? Explain with any relevant but without doing
any calculation.

(c) Determine the direction of any induced current I and add that to your
drawing in (a). Then determine the induced EMF by using Faradays Law.

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(d) Determine the induced current I. Now with this induced EMF, the
closed part of the frame with the metal bar effectively forms a circuit. Draw
a circuit diagram for this effective circuit with any relevant physical quantity
labeled. Also sketch a plot of the induced current I as a function of time, label
any important time value on the t axis (by explicitly calculate them out).

(e) Interestingly, as I mentioned before, it is not necessary to evoke the Fara-


days Law to analyze to this motional EMF; it can be viewed as completely a
magnetic phenomenon. In term of the motion of the metal bar and any mag-
netic force, explain in word with the aid of a figure why there exist a EMF,
therefore a potential different, between the two end of the metal bar and how
this EMF on the bar causes a induced current. Hint: Dont forget any electric
field created (why there is one?)

(f) Calculate explicitly the value of this EMF, assuming that the bar is
straight enough such that the electric field is approximately E = V l. Is your
obtained value agree with your result from using Faradays Law?

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(g) Now there is a current flowing, there must be a magnetic force acting.
Draw another figure of your metal bar and frame at three different time: (i)
before the bar get into the B-field region (ii) when the bar is inside the B-field
(iii) after the bar leave the B-field. Identify any magnetic force acting at the
three cases and add them to your figure.

(h) With the magnetic force acting on the induced current, is it possible for
the metal bar to keep moving at the constant velocity v without any external
aid? If not, how should you keep it moving at v?

(i) Calculate the power dissipated by the resistance of the circuit (side note:
Remember the electric power is always P = IV , regardless of whether or not
Ohms Law is obeyed). Where is this energy come from? Find a way to confirm
that mathematically.

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