Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2011/paper-1/section-e/e14/c/solution
Past exam of the physics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2011 Paper 1 Section E E14 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
For a stationary closed circuit, Faraday's law of induction isThe loop orientation and magnetic-flux normal obey the right-hand convention. For a moving material circuit, the emf is instead , with the same negative derivative of the flux through the moving circuit. The additional magnetic force term accounts for motional emf.
Lenz's law expresses the minus sign physically: an induced current opposes the change in flux that produces it. It does not always oppose the field itself. Increasing positive flux drives a current producing negative flux; decreasing it reverses that response. A straight conducting rod of length l moving across a perpendicular uniform field has emf magnitude Blv. A resistive return circuit then develops a magnetic braking force, and the supplied mechanical power equals Joule heating in the ideal steady limit. This connects induction with conservation of energy. [ref]
University Physics Volume 2 by Samuel J. Ling and others. Chapter13, Faraday induction, Lenz direction and motional emf
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