PHYSICS
INVESTIGATORY
PROJECT
TANGENT GALVANOMETER
Windows User
SUBMITTED
[Date]
BY: MEERA DAS.P
[Course title]
CLASS:XII-A
PHYSICS INVESTIGATORY PROJECT
TANGENT GALVANOETER
SUBMITTED;BY
MEERA DAS.P
ROLL NO:
CERTIFICATE
This is hereby to certify that the original and genuine investigation work has
been carried out to investigate about the subject matter and the related data
collection and investigation has been completed sincerely and satisfactorily by
MEERA DAS.P of class XII-JAWAHAR NAVODAYA VIDYALAYA
MALAPPURAM ,regarding her project titled “TANGENT GALANOMETER’’
Examiner’s signature Teacher in charge
Date Principle
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My investigatory project in physics is on the topic Tangent Galvanometer . I
most respectfully acknowledge our beloved principal Mrs . K. Sreelekha for her
valuable help done towards the completion of this project . I would like to
express my sincere gratitude towards Mr . Sreenivasan T A head of the physics
department for all his assistance and guidance provided towards the successful
completion of this project . I am very much thankful to Mrs. Sindhu A K ,lab
assistant for all her valuable suggestion and help.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
ABOUT THE TOPIC-TANGENTIAL GALVANOMETER
EXPERIMENT
OBSERVATION
RESULT
CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is
themagnetic field that extends from the Earth's interior to where it
meets thesolar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from the
Sun. Itsmagnitude at the Earth's surface ranges from 25 to 65
microteslas (0.25 to0.65 gauss).Roughly speaking it is the field of a
magnetic dipole currently tilted at an angle of about 10 degrees with
respect to Earth's rotational axis, as if there were a bar magnet placed
at that angle at the center of the Earth. Unlike a bar magnet, however,
Earth's magnetic field changes overtime because it is generated by a
geodynamic (in Earth's case, the motion of molten iron alloys in its
outer core).
The North and South magnetic poles wander widely, but sufficiently
slowly for ordinary compasses to remain useful for navigation.
However, at irregular intervals averaging several hundred thousand
years, the Earth's field reverses and the North and South Magnetic
Poles relatively abruptly switch places. These reversals of the
geomagnetic poles leave a record in rocks that are of value to
paleomagnetists in calculating geomagneticfields in the past. Such
information in turn is helpful in studying the motions of continents
and ocean floors in the process of plate tectonics.
The magnetosphere is the region above the ionosphere and extends
several tens of thousands of kilometers into space, protecting the
Earth from the charged particles of the solar wind and cosmic rays
that would other wises trip away the upper atmosphere, including the
ozone layer that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Earth's magnetic field serves to deflect most of the solar wind, whose
charged particles would otherwise strip away the ozone layer that
protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. One stripping
mechanism is for gas to be caught in bubbles of magnetic field, which
are ripped off by solar winds .
The intensity of the field is often measured in gauss (G), but is
generally reported in nanoteslas (nT), with 1 G = 100,000 nT. A
nanotesla is alsoreferred to as a gamma (γ).The tesla is the SI unit of
the Magnetic field, B. The field ranges between approximately 25,000
and 65,000 nT (0.25-0.65G). Near the surface of the Earth, its
magnetic field can be closelyapproximated by the field of a magnetic
dipole positioned at the center ofthe Earth and tilted at an angle of
about 10° with respect to the rotationalaxis of the Earth. The dipole is
roughly equivalent to a powerful barmagnet, with its South Pole
pointing towards the geomagnetic North Pole.The north pole of a
magnet is so defined because, if allowed to rotatefreely, it points
roughly northward (in the geographic sense). Since thenorth pole of a
magnet attracts the south poles of other magnets and repelsthe north
poles, it must be attracted to the South Pole.
ABOUT THE TOPIC
TANGENT GALVANOMETER
Tangent galvanometer is an early measuring instrument for small electric
currents. It consists of a coil of insulated copper wire wound on a circular non-
magnetic frame. Its working is based on the principle of the tangent law of
magnetism. When a current is passed through the circular coil, a magnetic field
(B) is produced at the center of the coil in a direction perpendicular to the plane
of the coil. The TG is arranged in such a way that the horizontal component of
earth’s magnetic field (Bh) is in the direction of the plane of the coil. The
magnetic needle is then under the action of two mutually perpendicular fields.
If θ is the deflection of the needle, then according to tangent law,
Let I is the current passing through the coil of radius a with n turns, then the
field generated by the current carrying circular coil is,
The left hand side of equation (4) is a constant and is called the reduction factor
(K) of the given tangent galvanometer.
Now from equation (3) & (5), the horizontal intensity of earth’s magnetic field
Bh is,
EXPERIMENT
AIM:
To find the horizontal intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field
Apparatus:
Accumulator, Rheostat, Ammeter, Commutator, tangent galvanometer
PRINCIPLE AND FORMULAE
Field at a point on the axis, distances ‘X’ meter from the centre of the circular
coil of radius ‘a’ carrying a current ‘I amp’ . Is
B= tesla, where n =number of turns in the coil
But B= ,where is the deflection in the compass box placed at
that point
PROCEDURE :
The plane coil is adjusted to be in magnetic meridian. For this, the compass box
is kept at the centre of the coil.the compass box alone is rotated till the (90-90)
readings are in vertical plane of coil.The apparatus as a whole is rotated till the
pointer reads (0-0).
A current of one ampere is passes through the coil.The compass box is placed
at a distance X (4 CM) from the centre of the coil on the eastern side arm.The
readings of both end points are noted.The current in the coil is reversed and two
more deflections are noted.The compass box is placed at the same distance on
the western arm and four more deflections are noted. The mean of the eight
deflections gives .The radius (a) of the coil is measured.The number of
turns(n) is known.Hence Bh is calculated using the formula,
Bh = The experiment is repeated for different values of X ,
The mean value of Bh is calculated.
• Number of turns of the coil = 50
• Circumference of the coil (S) = 2πr =0.50
• Radius of the coil r = S/2π = 0.0796
• Horizontal intensity at the place Bh =0.40 X 10-4
OBSERVATION TABLE
Deflection on compass box mean tan Bh
SI Current Distance Eastern side Western side
No. I X 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 0.36 A 0 71 70 75 77 73.25 3.7759 0.4256
2 0.36 A 0.06 65 65 64 68 64 65 65 66 65.25 2.1691 0.3335
3 0.36 A 0.08 45 45 47 49 45 46 47 48 46.50 1.0537 0.4757
4 0.36 A 0.10 30 32 37 37 32 32 32 37 31.50 0.6128 0.4927
5 0.36 A 0.12 26 25 26 27 26 26 27 25 26.00 0.4877 0.4950
Mean Bh=0.40 X 10-4
RESULT
Horizontal intensity at the place, Bh = 0.40 x 10-4
PRECAUTIONS
• The battery should be freshly charged.
• The magnetic needle should swing freely in the horizontal plane.
• The plane of coil must be set in magnetic meridian.
• There should be no parallax in noting down the readings of ammeter and
deflection.
• All the readings should be adjusted between 30 o and 60 o .
CONCLUSION
The tangent galvanometer refers to a device that facilitates the measurement of
current according to the principle of tangent law. It helps in the measurement of
the presence, direction, and power of the currents. These instruments have the
following main parts- a vertical copper wire, a circular frame, and a compass
needle in the middle. In the year 1834, J.J. Nervander designed this instrument.
It was more sensitive than the electromagnetic galvanometer. There are various
uses of tangent galvanometer pertaining to electric current and magnetic field.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• www.sciencejournals.com
• https://www.studocu.com/in
• https://unacademy.com
