Assignment:
The work being performed in this lab serves to solidify our understanding of how a magnetic field around a ring behaves at various locations.
The lab was performed using the VPython program, which we used to calculate the magnitude and direction of the magnetic field at various points surrounding ring. We used the equation for finding the magnetic field for portions of the ring and calculated the sum to find the net magnetic field at any particular observation location.
In the end we were able to observe the distribution of the magnetic field around a ring with a uniform charge and a conventional current.
Puthon is not only the program we used, but it is also the programming language itself. Used as a scripting language that emphasizes code readability, python allows coders to express more concepts in fewer lines of code. Using pythons programming language, we coded all of the physics equations and plugged in numerical values.
The physics in this experiment was placed under the For Loop, which iterates over the items of the ordered list B_field. This way, the For Loop can calculate the magnetic field at numerous observation locations due to the ring.
Our lab data resulted in a number of magnetic field vectors oriented in a dipole-like fashion.
When we observed a ring with a positive I value, the magnetic field pointed to the right. When we observed a ring with a negative I value, the direction of the magnetic field changed.