Question
Answer the following questions:
A magnetic field that varies in magnitude from point to point but has a constant direction (east to west) is set up in a chamber. A charged particle enters the chamber and travels undeflected along a straight path with constant speed. What can you say about the initial velocity of the particle?
Solution
The force on a charged particle moving in a magnetic field is given by F = qvB sin θ.
If the force acting on a particle is 0 then, the charged particle will travel undeflected along a traight path with constant speed in the presence of magnetic field. And, the force acting is 0 when, θ = 0° or180° . That is, when initial velocity v is either parallel or anti-parallel to
