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Sage
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posted by  Ryukyu on 7/29/2008 7:49:35 AM  |  status: Live  

Magnetic torque.

Course Textbook Chapter Problem
Calculus Based Physics N/A N/A N/A
Question Details:
A wire of length 44cm carries a current I = 1.5A.

The wire is formed into a square.

An externally generated field of 63mT makes an angle of 40 degrees with the normal to the plane of the square. 

What is the magnitude of the torque on the square?

 It should not be assumed that these are long, straight wires as they are only 11cm each.
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Oracle
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posted by Steve (retired) on 7/29/2008 7:51:21 AM  |  status: Live
Asker's Rating: Helpful   
Ryukyu's comment:
"This doesn't take into account the angle."
Response Details:
torque on a current loop that is perp to the mag field is
 
   τ  = N I A B        where   N is the number of turns.
 
In your case, the wire is wrapped into N square turns, with each turn a square of side length
 
   s  = L / 4N           (each square has perimeter of L/N  and the side is 1/4 of the perimeter)
 
So the area is    A = s2  =  L2 / 16N2     now sub this into the torque expression and
 
   τ  = N I A B    =   N I (L2 / 16N2 )  B   =   I L2 B / 16 N  
 
notice that torque is inv prop to N... so the greater the N, the less the torque. Therefore the greatest torque will be with the smallest N, or N = 1
 
Then    τ  =  I L2 B / 16      
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