Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/ib/paper-2/18a/solution

For a moving circuit, Faraday's law states that the electromotive force
equals , where is the magnetic flux through any spanning surface. Choose the upward normal. The horizontal square has
so Ohm's law gives the induced current
with positive current taken counterclockwise from above.
On the edge , . The magnetic force on a current-carrying wire is , hence
The ratio of the horizontal to vertical magnitudes is , so the directed force makes angle with the vertical, with the sign fixing the horizontal side.
The horizontal forces on opposite edges cancel, while all four vertical contributions add:
This is an electromagnetic drag force opposing the motion, as required by Lenz's law. Including gravity gives
At the terminal velocity, , and the constant downward speed has magnitude

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