Free Electrons Motions in Static Electric and Magnetic Fields

Free-electron Landau states are a form of quantized state adopted by electrons

moving through a magnetic field. All charged particles interact with
electromagnetic fields via the Lorentz force. This interaction causes electrons in a
magnetic field to move in a corkscrew pattern.

Electric field points in a direction from higher potential to the lower potential and
the free electrons accelerate in the direction opposite to that of electric field. Hence
the free electrons move from lower potential to higher potential.

The magnetic field causes the electrons, attracted to the (relatively) positive
outer part of the chamber, to spiral outward in a circular path, a consequence of the
Lorentz force.

While in an electric field the electron moves at a constant velocity at right

angles to the field but accelerates along the direction of the field. An electron is
accelerated from rest through a potential difference of 5000 V and then enters a
magnetic field of strength 0.02 T acting at right angles to its path. A positively
charged particle in a uniform magnetic field moves in a circular path in the
clockwise direction, parallel to the plane of the page.
Motion of charge particle in a magnetic field , Since the magnetic force is
perpendicular to the direction of travel, a charged particle follows a curved path in
a magnetic field. The particle continues to follow this curved path until it forms a
complete circle.

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Motion in Combined Electric and Magnetic Fields

It has long been known that charged particles move in circular orbits in the
magnetic field. The Van Allen radiation belts in space around the earth consist of
these energetic charges trapped in the magnetic field of the earth. But what is a
magnetic field? Magnetic fields are also used to guide the motion of charged
particles in accelerators for both research and medical purposes. The orbiting
motion of charges in a magnetic field is the basis for measuring the mass of an
atom.

Lorentz Force

Lorentz force is the force exerted on a charged particle moving through both
electric and magnetic field.

F = qE + qv × B …………………………………. (1)

Where,

 F = Lorentz Force
 q = Charge on the Particle
 E = Electric Field
 B = Magnetic Field
 v = Velocity of the Particle

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 Fig. 1 Lorentz Force

In a vacuum where collisions between particles are not very frequent, a particle
with charge q, mass m, and velocity v perpendicular to a uniform magnetic field B
(no E) moves in a circular path with the radius

r = mv / qB ……………………………………… (2)

One can also deflect the trajectory of a charged particle with an electric field,
although not into a circular path. If the electric force on the particle is both equal
and opposite to the magnetic force, the net force on the particle will be zero. From
Eq. (1), this will happen if

V = E / B ………………………………………… (3)

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Solved Examples For You

Question: A charged particle moves in a gravity-free space without the change in

velocity. Which of the following is/are possible?

A) B = 0, E = 0 B) E = 0, B ≠ 0 C) E ≠ 0, B = 0 D) B ≠ 0, E ≠ 0

Solution: If A charged particle moves in a gravity-free space without a change in

velocity, then

 Particle can move with constant velocity in any direction. So B =0, E = 0

 Particle can move in a circle with constant speed. Magnetic force will
provide the centripetal force that causes particle to move in a circle.
 If qE = qvB and Magnetic & Electric force in opposite direction in this
case also particle move with uniform speed.

The motion of a charged particle in the electric and magnetic field

In case of motion of a charge in a magnetic field, the magnetic force is

perpendicular to the velocity of the particle. So no work is done and no change in
the magnitude of the velocity is produced (though the direction of momentum may
be changed). We shall consider the motion of a charged particle in a uniform
magnetic field. First, consider the case of v perpendicular to B.

The perpendicular force, q v × B, acts as a centripetal force and produces a

circular motion perpendicular to the magnetic field. If velocity has a component
along B, this component remains unchanged as the motion along the magnetic field
will not be affected by the magnetic field.

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The motion in a plane perpendicular to B is as before a circular one, thereby
producing a helical motion. However, the electric field in y-direction imparts
acceleration in that direction. The particle, therefore, acquires velocity in the y-
direction and resulting motion is a helical motion.

The radius of each of the circular element and other periodic attributes like
time period, frequency and angular frequency is same as for the case of circular
motion of a charged particle in perpendicular to magnetic field.

R = ν / αB (4)

T = 2π / αB (5)

ν = αB / 2π (6)

ω = αB (7)

If there is a component of the velocity parallel to the magnetic field (denoted by

v2), it will make the particle move along both the field and the path of the particle
would be a helical one. The distance moved along the magnetic field in one
rotation is called pitch p.

p = v2T = 2πmv2 /qB (8)

Motion of a Charged Particle in a Magnetic Field

A charged particle experiences a force when moving through a magnetic field.

What happens if this field is uniform over the motion of the charged particle? What
path does the particle follow? In this section, we discuss the circular motion of the
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charged particle as well as other motion that results from a charged particle
entering a magnetic field.

The simplest case occurs when a charged particle moves perpendicular to a

uniform -field (Figure 1.3.1). If the field is in a vacuum, the magnetic field is the
dominant factor determining the motion. Since the magnetic force is perpendicular
to the direction of travel, a charged particle follows a curved path in a magnetic
field. The particle continues to follow this curved path until it forms a complete
circle. Another way to look at this is that the magnetic force is always
perpendicular to velocity, so that it does no work on the charged particle. The
particle’s kinetic energy and speed thus remain constant. The direction of motion is
affected but not the speed.

In this situation, the magnetic force supplies the centripetal force

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F c=
mv
r
. (9)

Noting that the velocity is perpendicular to the magnetic field, the magnitude of the
magnetic force is reduced to F=qvB . Because the magnetic force F supplies the
centripetal force F C, we have

2
mv
qvB= ………………………. (10)
r

Solving for r yields

mv
r= ……………………… (11)
qB

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Here, r is the radius of curvature of the path of a charged particle with mass m,
and charge q , moving at a speed v that is perpendicular to a magnetic field of
strength B. The time for the charged particle to go around the circular path is
defined as the period, which is the same as the distance traveled (the
circumference) divided by the speed. Based on this and eqn.10 we can derive the
period of motion as

2 πr 2 π mv 2 πm
T= = = 12)
v v qB qB

If the velocity is not perpendicular to the magnetic field, then we can compare each
component of the velocity separately with the magnetic field. The component of
the velocity perpendicular to the magnetic field produces a magnetic force
perpendicular to both this velocity and the field: V perp=Vsinθ ,V para=¿Vcosθ ¿ (13)

Where θ is the angle between v and B. The component parallel to the magnetic
field creates constant motion along the same direction as the magnetic field, also
shown in 1.3.4. The parallel motion determines the pitch p of the helix, which is
the distance between adjacent turns. This distance equals the parallel component of
the velocity times the period:

p=V para T (14)

The result is a helical motion, diagram below

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Fig 2 Helical Motion

While the charged particle travels in a helical path, it may enter a region where the
magnetic field is not uniform. In particular, suppose a particle travels from a region
of strong magnetic field to a region of weaker field, then back to a region of
stronger field. The particle may reflect back before entering the stronger magnetic
field region. This is similar to a wave on a string traveling from a very light, thin
string to a hard wall and reflecting backward. If the reflection happens at both
ends, the particle is trapped in a so-called magnetic bottle.

Trapped particles in magnetic fields are found in the Van Allen radiation
belts around Earth, which are part of Earth’s magnetic field. These belts were
discovered by James Van Allen while trying to measure the flux of cosmic rays on
Earth (high-energy particles that come from outside the solar system) to see
whether this was similar to the flux measured on Earth. Van Allen found that due
to the contribution of particles trapped in Earth’s magnetic field, the flux was much
higher on Earth than in outer space. Aurorae, like the famous aurora borealis
(northern lights) in the Northern Hemisphere are beautiful displays of light emitted

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as ions recombine with electrons entering the atmosphere as they spiral along
magnetic field lines. (The ions are primarily oxygen and nitrogen atoms that are
initially ionized by collisions with energetic particles in Earth’s atmosphere.)
Aurorae have also been observed on other planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn.

EXAMPLE 1

Beam Deflector

A research group is investigating short-lived radioactive isotopes. They need to

design a way to transport alpha-particles (helium nuclei) from where they are made
to a place where they will collide with another material to form an isotope. The
beam of alpha-particles m=6.64∗10−27 kg , q=3.2∗10−19 C bends through a 90-degree
region with a uniform magnetic field of 0.050T (a) In what direction should the
magnetic field be applied? (b) How much time does it take the alpha-particles to
traverse the uniform magnetic field region?

Solution

a. Let’s start by focusing on the alpha-particle entering the field near the bottom
of the picture. First, point your thumb up the page. In order for your palm to open
to the left where the centripetal force (and hence the magnetic force) points, your
fingers need to change orientation until they point into the page. This is the
direction of the applied magnetic field.

b. The period of the charged particle going around a circle is calculated by using
the given mass, charge, and magnetic field in the problem. This works out to be

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 2 πm −27
T= =2 π (6.64∗10kg ) /3.2∗10−19 C∗¿ 0.050T = 2.6 *10−6 s
qB

T= 2.6 *10−6 s

However, for the given problem, the alpha-particle goes around a quarter of the
circle, so the time it takes would be

t=0.25∗¿ *10−6 s ¿ = 6.5∗10−7 s

Significance

This time may be quick enough to get to the material we would like to bombard,
depending on how short-lived the radioactive isotope is and continues to emit
alpha-particles. If we could increase the magnetic field applied in the region, this
would shorten the time even more. The path the particles need to take could be
shortened, but this may not be economical given the experimental setup.

EXAMPLE 2

Helical Motion in a Magnetic Field

A proton enters a uniform magnetic field of 1.0 * 10−4 T with a speed of5∗105 m/s
. At what angle must the magnetic field be from the velocity so that the pitch of the
resulting helical motion is equal to the radius of the helix?

Strategy

The pitch of the motion relates to the parallel velocity times the period of the
circular motion, whereas the radius relates to the perpendicular velocity

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component. After setting the radius and the pitch equal to each other, solve for the
angle between the magnetic field and velocity or θ.

P=r

v mv
=
T qB

2 πm mv sinθ
v cosθ =
qB qB

2π = tan θ

θ = 81.0 0

Significance

If this angle were0 0 ,only parallel velocity would occur and the helix would not
form, because there would be no circular motion in the perpendicular plane. If this
angle were 90 0, only circular motion would occur and there would be no movement
of the circles perpendicular to the motion. That is what creates the helical motion.

Applications

Some of the important applications associated with the presence of the two fields
include:

 The motion of a charged particle in electric and magnetic fields

 Measurement of specific charge of an electron (J.J.Thomson experiment)
 Acceleration of charged particles (cyclotron)

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