E.S.

LORDS INTERNATIONAL
SCHOOL
VILLUPURAM

PHYSICS PROJECT

ACADEMIC YEAR : 2024 – 2025

NAME :ATHITHYA,MATHANBABU,
SHATRUDHAN,APSAR
CLASS : XII
ROLL NO :1219,1227
TOPIC : To study the earth’s magnetic
field

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 CERTIFICATE OF EXCELLENCE

This is to certify that this Physics Investigatory Project on the

topic ‘‘has been successfully completed by Class XII under
the guidance of Mr.Naresh babu M.Sc.,B.Ed in particular
fulfilment of the curriculum of Central Board of Secondary
Education leading to the award of annual examination of the
year 2024-25.

Sign of External Examiner Sign of Internal Examiner

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the accomplishment of this project successfully, many

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

Primarily I would like to thank god for being able to

complete this project with success. Then I would like to thank
my principal Mr. Gunasekaran, my co-ordinator Mr. Ramu
and our subject teacher Mr. Naresh babu 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 and my classmates

who helped me with valuable suggestions for finalizing and
completion of project.

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 INDEX

S.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
8 Observation
9 Result
10 Conclusion
11 Bibliography
12 Closure

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 AIM OF THE PROJECT

To study the earth’s magnetic

field using tangent
galvanometer

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 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
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tiny,

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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.

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.
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 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

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places.

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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 kilometres 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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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 = μ 0 nI/2a → (2) (a is the radius of the coil)
Equating (1) and (2), we get,
Bh tanθ = μ 0nI/2a → (3)
2aBh/μ 0n = 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 = μ 0nK/2a → (6)

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APPARATUS REQUIRED

Rheostat

Ammeter

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Commutator Tangent Galvanometer

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 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 = μ 0 nK/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.

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 Procedure Followed
The circuit is made as shown in the diagram. The plane of
the coil is made vertical by adjusting the levelling screws. The
plane of the coil is made by adjusting the levelling 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

aluminium 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

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the circumference of the coil is measured. Hence its radius
r is

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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

Deflection in
Ammeter T.G
S.No Mean K = I/tanθ
Reading
θ1 θ2 θ3 θ4

1 0.15 35 35 35 35 35 0.2142

2 0.20 49 47 60 64 53.6 0.1474

3 0.25 36 36 55 58 46.25 0.2389

4 0.30 50 50 65 68 58.2 0.1860

5 0.35 45 45 64 65 53.8 0.1976

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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.

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 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.

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

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