Ampere's Motor Cart

 

Code Number: 5H40.71

Demo Title: Ampere's Motor - Railgun

Condition: Excellent

Principle: Torque on a Movable Conductor

Area of Study: Lorentz Force

Equipment: 

Ampere's Motor Cart.

Procedure:

Switch on the power supply.  Place the desired rolling conductor on the rails and throw the switch.  The conductor will roll in the direction that you throw the switch.  Let the rolling conductor roll completely off the rails.  DO NOT stop the rolling conductor while it is still on the rails when the rails are powered.  Turn off the power supply when done with the demo.

References:

  • Yajun Wei, "Force on a Current-Carrying Wire - A Thought-Experiment Approach to Obtain F=ILB", TPT, Vol. 62, #6, Sept. 2024, p. 505.
  • Bruce J. Ackerson, "Special Relativity at Low Relative Velocities", TPT, Vol. 57, #5, May 2019, p. 323.
  • Gabriel I. Font and Anthony N. Dills, "Analyzing Railguns with Excel: Simple Numerical Integration for the Classroom", TPT, Vol. 56, #7, Oct. 2018, p. 436.
  • Marco Fatuzzo, Terrence P. Toepker, "More Track and Field", TPT, Vol. 42, #6, Sept. 2004, p. 351.
  • Frank Weichman, "Force on Current-Carrying Wire", TPT, Vol. 41, # 9, Dec. 2003, p. 547
  • Gay B. Stewart, "Apparatus for Teaching Physics: The Rail Gun", TPT, Vol. 34, # 2, Feb. 1996, p. 122.
  • Marc Boule, "DC Power Transported by Two Infinite Parallel Wires", AJP, Vol. 92, #1, Jan. 2024, p. 14.
  • Stanley O. Starr, Robert C. Young, and Robert B. Cox, 'A Low Voltage "Railgun'", AJP, Vol. 81, #1, Jan. 2013, p. 38.
  • Victor Namias, "Induced Current Effects In Faraday's Law and Introduction to Flux Compression Theories", AJP, Vol. 54, #1, Jan. 1986, p. 57.
  • Harry F. Meiners, "31-1.3", Physics Demonstration Experiments , p. 909 - 910.
  • Harry F. Meiners, "31-1.4", Physics Demonstration Experiments , p. 909 -910.
  • Richard M. Sutton, "E-135. Rolling Rod in Field of Magnet", Demonstration Experiments in Physics, p. 305 - 306.
  • Borislaw Bilash II, David Maiullo, "Magnetic Slide", A Demo A Day, p. 297.
  • 5H40.71 Demo Pictures, Physics Learning Laboratory, University of Colorado at Boulder.
5H40.71 - Ampere's Motor - Railgun