Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-shared-by-prelims-and-parts-a-and-b-of-the-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/s16/3/1/solution

Take . The magnetic Lorentz force gives
Thus , while is constant. Integrating the transverse velocity gives a circle of radius about a fixed guiding centre; adding gives a helical motion in a uniform magnetic field. The magnetic force does no work, so the speed and kinetic energy remain constant. The handedness reverses with the sign of . If the helix degenerates to a circle; if it is a straight line parallel to the field.

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