PrepRung

JEE Advanced 2020 Paper 2 · Physics · Magnetic Effects of Current · medium

A wire carries a steady current 5.0 A along a closed path made of two semicircular arcs of radii 0.10 m and 0.20 m, both centred at the same point O…

Numerical answer

A wire carries a steady current 5.0 A5.0\ \mathrm{A} along a closed path made of two semicircular arcs of radii 0.10 m0.10\ \mathrm{m} and 0.20 m0.20\ \mathrm{m}, both centred at the same point OO and lying on opposite sides of a line through OO, joined by two straight radial segments along that line. The current circulates so that the fields of the two arcs at OO point the same way. Taking μ0=4π×10−7 T m A−1\mu_0=4\pi\times10^{-7}\ \mathrm{T\,m\,A^{-1}}, the magnetic field at OO (in μT\mu\mathrm{T}) is. Give the answer correct to two decimal places.
Show answer and solution

Answer: 23.56

Use the Biot–Savart law piece by piece. The two straight segments lie along radial lines through OO, so dl⃗×r^=0d\vec l\times\hat r=0 and they contribute nothing. A semicircular arc of radius ρ\rho carrying current II gives, at its centre, half the field of a full loop: B=μ0I4ρB=\dfrac{\mu_0I}{4\rho}. The problem states the two arcs' fields add. Hence B=μ0I4(10.10+10.20)=(4π×10−7)(5)4×15=1.5708×10−6×15=2.356×10−5 TB=\dfrac{\mu_0I}{4}\left(\dfrac1{0.10}+\dfrac1{0.20}\right)=\dfrac{(4\pi\times10^{-7})(5)}{4}\times15=1.5708\times10^{-6}\times15=2.356\times10^{-5}\ \mathrm{T}. That is 23.56 μT23.56\ \mu\mathrm{T}. A common slip is to use the full-loop formula μ0I/2ρ\mu_0I/2\rho, which doubles the result, or to subtract the two fields. Direction matters only for the sign: if the arcs opposed one another, the field would be the difference of the two terms.
Report a mistake

Original question written in the JEE Advanced 2020 Paper 2 pattern and checked twice for the correct answer. Not an official question paper. How we write and check questions · Corrections policy · Report a mistake