Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-2-paper-of-the-university-of-oxford/2017/8/c/solution

Choose and a signed tangential velocity , with counterclockwise viewed from . The magnetic part of the Lorentz force is , while the electric part is . The radial acceleration for a circular orbit is , regardless of the sign of . Consequently
One valid signed-velocity convention therefore has , , . If is required to be a nonnegative speed, the two senses of rotation instead satisfy
with the plus sign for counterclockwise motion. For positive , the electric force is inward, so it can supply circular motion in either direction; in one direction the magnetic force opposes it, while in the other it helps. A signed negative root must not be discarded as an unphysical speed; it denotes the opposite orbit direction.

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