Physics for Engineers and Scientists 3^rd Edition

Motion in a Uniform Magnetic Field

This tutorial describes the various kinds of motion a charged particle can have in a magnetic field. It presents an interactive animation of a mass spectrometer, which the student can use to develop an equation for the radius of a charged particle’s path in a uniform magnetic field.

Use an interactive animation of a mass spectrometer to observe the variation of an ion’s motion as it depends on the magnetic field and the ion's mass. Use the lab notebook to store data, to make plots, and to determine the relevant functional relations.