VELAMMAL BODHI CAMPUS,

THANJAVUR

SESSION: 2022-2023
CLASS: 12 th SCIENCE
PHYSICS PROJECT
ROLL NO:
TOPIC: To study the earth’s magnetic field using a compass needle-bar
magnet by plotting magnetic field line and tangent galvanometer.
SUBMITTED TO:
SUBMITTED BY:
 CERTIFICATE OF
EXCELLENCE
This is to certify that this “Physics Investigatory Project” on
the topic “Tangent Galvanometer” has been successfully
completed by

of class XII – B1 under the guidance of

in particular fulfilment of the curriculum of Central

Board of Secondary Education {CBSE} leading to the
award of annual examination of the year 2022-23.

SIGN OF EXTERNAL EXAMINER SIGN OF INTERNAL EXAMINER

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the accomplishment of this project successfully,

Many people have best owned upon me their
blessings and the heart pledge support, this time I
am utilizing to thank all the people who have been
concerned with this project.

Primarily I would like thank god for being able to

complete this project with success. Then I would
like to thank my principal Mr Jebastin Robert Clive,
my Head Master Mr Lourdu Saamy and our
Charge-in teacher whose valuable
guidance has been the ones that helped us to patch this
project and make it full proof success, his suggestions
and instruction has served as the major contribution
towards the completion of this project.

Then I would like to thank my parents who have

helped me with their valuable suggestions and
guidance has been very helpful in various phases of the
completion of the project.

Secondly, I would also like to thank my friends, and

classmates who helped me a lot in finalizing
this project within the limited time frame.
 INDEX
Sr.No. CONTENT Page
1 Aim of the Project
2 About the Topic
3 Introduction
4 Circuit Diagram
5 Apparatus Required
6 Principle and Formulae
7 Procedure Followed
8 Observation
9 Result
10 Conclusion
11 Bibliography
12 Closure
AIM OF THE PROJECT

To study the earth’s magnetic field

using a compass needle-bar magnet
by plotting magnetic field line
and tangent galvanometer.
 ABOUT THE TOPIC
Tangent Galvanometer

A tangent galvanometer is an early measuring instrument used for the

measurement of electric current. It works by using a compass needle to
compare a magnetic field generated by the unknown current to the
magnetic field of the Earth. It gets its name from its operating principle,
the tangent law of magnetism, which states that the tangent of the angle a
compass needle makes is proportional to the ratio of the strengths of the
two perpendicular magnetic fields. It was first described by Claude
Pouillet in 1837. A tangent galvanometer consists of a coil of insulated
copper wire wound on a circular non-magnetic frame. The frame is
mounted vertically on a horizontal base provided with leveling screws. The
coil can be rotated on a vertical axis passing through its centre. A compass
box is mounted horizontally at the centre of a circular scale. It consists of a
tiny, powerful magnetic needle pivoted at the centre of the coil. The
magnetic needle is free to rotate in the horizontal plane. The circular scale
is divided into four quadrants. Each quadrant is graduated from 0° to 90°.
A long thin aluminium pointer is attached to the needle at its centre and at
right angle to it. To avoid errors due to parallax, a plane mirror is mounted
below the compass needle. In operation, the instrument is first rotated until
the magnetic field of the Earth, indicated by the compass needle, is parallel
with the plane of the coil. Then the unknown current is applied to the coil.
This creates a second magnetic field on the axis of the coil, perpendicular
to the Earth's magnetic field. The compass needle responds to the vector
sum of the two fields, and deflects to an angle equal to the tangent of the
ratio of the two fields.
 From the angle read from the compass's scale, the current could be found
from a table. The current supply wires have to be wound in a small helix,
like a pig's tail, otherwise the field due to the wire will affect the compass
needle and an incorrect reading will be obtained. A tangent galvanometer
can also be used to measure the magnitude of the horizontal component of
the geomagnetic field. When used in this way, a low-voltage power source,
such as a battery, is connected in series with a rheostat, the galvanometer,
and ammeter. The galvanometer is first aligned so that the coil is parallel
to the geomagnetic field, whose direction is indicated by the compass
when there is no current through the coils. The battery is then connected
and the rheostat is adjusted until the compass needle deflects 45 degrees
from the geomagnetic field, indicating that the magnitude of the magnetic
field at the center of the coil is the same as that of the horizontal
component of the geomagnetic field. This field strength can be calculated
from the current as measured by the ammeter, the number of turns of the
coil, and the radius of the coils.
 INTRODUCTION
Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the
magnetic field that extends from the Earth's interior to where it meets the
solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun. Its
magnitude at the Earth's surface ranges from 25 to 65 microteslas (0.25 to
0.65 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 over time
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 geomagnetic fields
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 otherwise
strip 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 nano teslas (nT), with 1 G = 100,000 nT. A nano tesla is also
referred 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 (0.25–0.65 G).
 Near the surface of the Earth, its magnetic field can be closely
approximated by the field of a magnetic dipole positioned at the center of
the Earth and tilted at an angle of about 10° with respect to the rotational
axis of the Earth. The dipole is roughly equivalent to a powerful bar
magnet, with its South Pole pointing towards the geomagnetic North Pole.
The north pole of a magnet is so defined because, if allowed to rotate
freely, it points roughly northward (in the geographic sense). Since the
north pole of a magnet attracts the south poles of other magnets and repels
the north poles, it must be attracted to the south pole.
 CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

When a bar magnet is suspended in two magnetic fields B and Bh, it

comes to rest making an angle θ with the direction of Bh.
 From Figure B = Bh tanθ. This is known as tangent law of magnetism.
If θ is the deflection of the needle, then according to tangent law,
B = Bh tanθ → (1)

Let I be the current passing through the coil of radius a with n turns, then
the magnetic field generated by the current carrying coil is,
B = µ0nI/2a → (2) (a is the radius of the coil)
Equating (1) and (2), we get,
Bh tanθ = µ0nI/2a → (3)

2aBh/µ0n = I/tanθ → (4)

The left hand side of equation (4) is a constant and is called the reduction
factor K of the given Tangent Galvanometer.
K = I/tanθ → (5)

Now from the equation (3) & (5), the horizontal intensity of Earth’s
magnetic field Bh is,
Bh = µ0nK/2a → (6)
APPARATUS REQUIRED

Rheostat

Accumulator

Ammeter

Commutator

Tamgent Galvanometer
 Principle & Formulae

·The reduction factor of T.G is K=I/tanθ, where I is the

current flowing through the T.G which produces the
deflection θ.

·The horizontal intensity of Earth’s magnetic field at a

place. Bh = µ0nK/2r, where n is the number of turns of the
coil, µ0 = 4π×10-7 NA-2 is the permeability of free space,
K is the reduction factor of the T.G and r is the radius of the
coil of the T.G.
 Procedure Followed
The circuit is made as shown in the diagram. The plane of the
coil is made vertical by adjusting the leveling screws. The plane
of the coil is made by adjusting the leveling screws. The plane of
the coil is made parallel to (90-90) in the compass box. The
whole T.G is rotated to read (0-0) at the ends of the aluminum
pointer. Now the plane of the coil is in the magnetic meridian.

The Commutator keys are put. The rheostat should be adjusted

for deflection in T.G between 10 and 60. For a current I, the
deflections of the pointer θ1 & θ2 are noted. The Commutator is
reversed. The deflections of the pointer θ3 & θ4 are noted. The
average of the four readings is the deflection θ. From the theory
of the T.G, I=K tanθ.

By varying the current the experiment is repeated. Using a string

the circumference of the coil is measured. Hence its radius r is
found. Let n be the number of turns of the coil. The horizontal
intensity at the place is given by, Bh = µ0nK/2r .
 OBSERVATION TABLE

Mean (K) 0.19682

· The reduction factor of TH = 0.19682
· Number of turns of the coil = 50
· Circumference of the coil (S) = 2πr = 50.49 cm
· Radius of the coil r = S/2π = 8.04 cm = 8.04×10-2 cm
Horizontal Intensity at the place Bh = µ0nK/2r
= 2πnK×10-7 /r
= 7.6867×10-8 T
For different values of current I, deflections are noted and values are
calculated. Knowing K, n and r the value of horizontal intensity Bh can be
calculated.
 Result
1. The reduction factor of T.G, K = 0.19682 A
2. Horizontal Intensity at the place, Bh = 7.6867×10-5 T

CONCLUSION
Experiment in tangent galvanometer gives the reduction factor of
galvanometer and horizontal intensity of Earth’s magnetic field.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
ü Illustrative Oxford Book
ü Wikipedia
ü NCERT Practical’s
ü Introduction to Physical Science