Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2012 Paper 1 Section B B7 Solution 2026-10-20
For fixed, magnetically linear geometry, self-inductance relates a coil's own magnetic flux linkage to its electric current, . mutual inductance relates the linkage in one coil to the current in the other, . These coefficients enter the induced electromotive forces through ; reversing a chosen winding orientation reverses the sign assigned to .
In the ideal confined-field toroid, a circular magnetostatic Ampère law contour encloses , soWrite for the height of the square cross-section. The inductance of a rectangular-section toroid follows by integrating the magnetic flux density over that cross-section; it cannot be replaced by its value at an arbitrary mean radius:Consequently, for winding normals chosen consistently,The equality means complete shared magnetic flux linkage; with leakage one instead has .
For the crack, use the radial-path approximation for a cracked toroid, with an air length on each path and core length . Continuity of the normal magnetic flux density at a crack face gives . HenceIntegrating the radial paths yieldsHere and : about a 53% reduction. The small ratio does not justify expanding in , which is about ten. The crack's low magnetic permeability gives appreciable magnetic reluctance. This is an estimate within a confined-flux model; actual redistribution near the slit is outside its accuracy. Narrow-gap circuit models assume small gap width relative to transverse dimensions and approximately directed flux.[ref]
Magnetic Circuits. §9.7, Example 9.7.1 and the paragraph after it: air-gap circuit approximation and need for a more general field solution
For the intact ring, ideal poloidal winding currents and the no-leakage boundary condition admit with zero radial and vertical components. It is curl-free inside the current-free core, divergence-free for uniform magnetic permeability, tangent to the core boundary, and has the required circulation; uniqueness of the Neumann problem removes an additional homogeneous scalar-potential field. This explains zero non-azimuthal components in the stipulated intact-ring idealization. A literal slit breaks that rotational symmetry, so zero transverse components everywhere is not exact for the cracked ring: magnetic fringing and flux redistribution occur. In fact, extending the approximate unchanged around a current-free core would give . Thus that radial-path calculation and a claim of exact purely azimuthal field in the cracked geometry cannot both be exact. The numerical answer above retains the intended circuit approximation while making its limitation explicit.