Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2010 Paper 1 Section A 1 Solution 2026-10-20
For a fixed linear circuit, self-inductance relates the magnetic flux linkage produced by its own current to that current: , with . The self-induced electromotive force is when is constant. Its unit is the henry, .
mutual inductance relates the linkage in one circuit to current in another: and . For stationary reciprocal linear media, with consistently oriented turns, and . Orientation fixes the sign. The coupled magnetic energy is , so positivity requires . Moving coils or nonlinear cores require differentiation of the full linkage rather than treating the inductance as a constant.
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.
A current in one circuit links magnetic flux through another. It produces magnetic flux linkage through another. With fixed geometry and a linear reciprocal medium, choose consistent winding orientations and writeThe shared coefficient is mutual inductance; reversal of one winding reverses its sign. Faraday's law of induction gives the mutual induced emf for fixed . The minus sign expresses Lenz's law.
The magnetic energy isNonnegative energy for every current pair requires , motivating the coupling coefficient . Transformers use strong common flux to exchange energy between circuits; leakage flux reduces coupling. A shared core increases linkage, but saturation, hysteresis and eddy-current losses limit the linear description. A moving geometry also contributes to the mutual emf.
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2014 Paper 2 Section B B7 Solution 2026-10-20
Electromagnetic induction produces an electromotive force when magnetic flux linkage changes. For an oriented moving loop,For a stationary loop this reduces to Faraday's law of induction, . Motion in a static field can instead supply the motional term. Lenz's law gives the minus sign: the induced electric current opposes the flux change, with the required electrical energy supplied by mechanical work or the field source.
For linear fixed-geometry circuits, flux linkages satisfy and . Self-inductance gives ; mutual inductance gives the additional term . Reciprocity gives the same mutual coefficient for both circuits, with its sign determined by winding orientation. The stored field energy isThe bound follows from nonnegative energy for arbitrary electric currents. In a linear medium the equivalent field expression is .
An ideal electrical transformer links both windings with one changing core flux, giving for corresponding voltage magnitudes. A loaded secondary drives an opposing magnetomotive force and increases primary electric current; ideally and input and output powers agree. A electrical transformer exchanges voltage for electric current, not for extra power. Real devices have winding resistance, leakage flux, eddy-current and hysteresis losses, and finite magnetizing electric current. A steady DC input gives no continuing secondary voltage after the switching transient and may cause excessive primary electric current or core saturation.
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2015 Paper 1 Section A A4 Solution 2026-10-20
The varying magnetic flux through the ring induces an electromotive force by Faraday's law of induction. Its direction follows Lenz's law. With solenoid current , ring current , ring self-inductance , electrical resistance , and mutual inductance ,The ring sits in a nonuniform magnetic field: coupling decreases above the solenoid, so and with a common orientation for the two windings. For , the in-phase part of the induced ring current is negative:Thus alternating-current induction levitation can balance the ring's weight when . A falling mean lifting force with height supplies vertical stability. In the strongly inductive limit the two currents are almost opposite: the ring repels the solenoid during both half cycles. Finite self-inductance matters; an ideal purely resistive loop would carry a current exactly in quadrature with and give zero average force in this model. The source supplies the Joule heating in the real ring, and any mechanical work while it rises.
An inductor stores magnetic energy and opposes changes of current through electromagnetic induction. For a fixed linear device, the flux linkage is , the self-induced electromotive force is , and the passive terminal voltage is . HenceThe voltage leads a sinusoidal current by a quarter cycle. A long solenoid has and ; its energy agrees with the volume integral of .
For two coupled coils, , , with signs set by coil orientations. Reciprocity gives the same mutual inductance in both equations. For the energy stored in a nonlinear inductor, replaces the simple quadratic formula, and hysteresis can dissipate energy. Real coils also have resistance, core loss and parasitic capacitance, so an ideal inductance model has a finite useful frequency range.[ref]
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2015 Paper 2 Section B B9 Solution 2026-10-20
A normal mode is a motion in which all coordinates have a fixed relative pattern and oscillate at one frequency. Near a stable equilibrium, let the quadratic kinetic and potential energies be and . With positive-definite mass matrix , the equations and harmonic ansatz giveThe stiffness and mass matrices are symmetric. For distinct frequencies, their symmetry gives , so the mode vectors are orthogonal in the mass inner product. A basis can also be chosen in a degenerate eigenspace. Expanding decouples the equations into ; initial displacements and velocities determine the coefficients. Positive stiffness gives real frequencies, a zero eigenvalue can describe a free symmetry motion, and a negative one signals instability rather than an oscillatory mode.[ref]
Classical Dynamics by David Tong. Section 2.6: small oscillations and generalized normal-mode eigenvalue equations
For two equal masses between fixed walls with three equal springs, the stiffness matrix is and the mass matrix is . The patterns and have frequencies and . An initial displacement of one mass excites both modes and can produce beats.
For a uniform taut string fixed at both ends, the wave equation , with , has patterns and angular frequenciesThe boundary conditions select the spectrum. Fourier expansion of arbitrary admissible initial data provides the mode amplitudes, illustrating the extension from a finite set of coordinates to a field.
For the normal modes of inductively coupled LC circuits, take two identical circuits with self-inductance , capacitance and mutual inductance , where . The capacitor charges obey and the exchanged equation. In-phase and opposite-phase charge patterns haveThe positive inductance matrix for two identical coils is the physical counterpart of positive mass. Here inductance plays the role of the mass matrix. Mechanical, wave and electrical examples therefore share the same eigenvalue structure. Weak forcing excites modes according to its spatial overlap with each pattern; damping broadens the resonances, while strong nonlinearity can invalidate a fixed linear-mode decomposition.
Normal modes range from two-mass displacement patterns to the standing-wave harmonics of a fixed string
. Source. Details. Mutual inductance expresses how a changing electric current in one circuit induces an electromotive force in another. Choose winding orientations and define their linked magnetic fluxes byFor a reciprocal linear magnetic system, the same appears in both expressions. Faraday's law of induction gives when the secondary electric current does not itself change. The sign depends on winding orientation and is consistent with Lenz's law.
The stored magnetic energy isIts nonnegativity for arbitrary electric currents requires . Strong coupling makes approach ; flux leakage makes it smaller.
An ideal electrical transformer has two windings linked by the same time-varying core magnetic flux. The induced winding voltages are proportional to their turn counts. For appropriately chosen terminal polarities,The electric current convention in the power relation takes primary power into the device and secondary power out to the load. Consequently a load electrical impedance appears at the primary as . A larger secondary voltage therefore comes with a smaller available secondary electric current, rather than extra energy.
A steady direct electric current produces no sustained transformer action after its switching transient. Practical departures from the ideal include winding electrical resistance, leakage magnetic flux, finite magnetizing electric current, core saturation, eddy currents and magnetic hysteresis losses.
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2017 Paper 2 Section A A4 Solution 2026-10-18
The symmetry is electromagnetic reciprocity applied to mutual inductance. For thin closed circuits in vacuum, the magnetic vector potential generated by circuit B isStokes theorem converts the magnetic flux through circuit A into its magnetic vector potential circulation. Dividing by gives Neumann's mutual-inductance formula,The dot product and separation are unchanged by interchanging A and B, soEach has units . The winding orientations must be used consistently to determine the common sign. The same reciprocity holds in ordinary linear reciprocal magnetic media; it is not an unrestricted statement about biased nonreciprocal materials. Equivalently, a reversible magnetic energy function has equal mixed derivatives with respect to the two currents.
Magnetic field and force. A steady electric current produces a magnetic field. In vacuum the Biot-Savart law givesThe Lorentz force on the charge carriers transfers force to the material carrying them. The resulting force on a current element of another circuit is , or, for a continuous current distribution, the magnetic force per unit volume is .
For two long parallel straight wires a distance apart, Ampère's law gives . ThereforeThe force is attractive for parallel currents and repulsive for opposite currents, by the cross product rule. Its units are . This approximation neglects wire thickness and end effects; a complete circuit includes its return current. Element-by-element forces need not form an isolated Newton's-third-law pair, but complete stationary circuits have balanced mutual forces when the entire system is included.
Energy description. For two linear coupled circuits the magnetic energy isHere is a mechanical coordinate and the signed mutual inductance. At prescribed currents, the generalized force is if the self-inductances do not vary. This positive derivative is obtained from magnetic coenergy, or by including the electrical sources' work; differentiating with a minus sign at fixed currents would omit that source work. At prescribed flux linkages the force instead equals the negative derivative of stored magnetic energy with those linkages fixed. The geometry thus determines both inductance and mechanical force.
In magnetostatics Ampère's circuital law is . Its general vacuum version adds on the right. Faraday's law is for a fixed loop. A circular Amperian path around a long straight wire giveswith direction given by the right-hand rule. The force on a wire element is ; its magnitude is and its direction follows this cross product.
Choose the straight-wire current rightward and the square below it, as printed. Its positive magnetic field there is into the page. With an into-page loop normal, the magnetic flux linkage isHere denotes mutual inductance, not a mass. Choose positive coil current to produce an out-of-page field. Then its induced current in the resistance-dominated approximation isThis reproduces the specified sign with the declared orientation. It neglects coil self-inductance, requiring , as implicit in the requested expression.
The nearest side contains N parallel current segments and is at a uniform distance , so its force magnitude isThe two sides perpendicular to the wire have opposite currents and equal magnetic fields at corresponding distances; their forces cancel pairwise. The far side opposes the near-side force and has the smaller field. ThusWhen and have the same sign under the chosen conventions, the near-side coil current opposes the straight-wire current and the total force is away from the wire; otherwise it is toward it. In particular the signed force alternates with . The coil is fixed, so these forces do no mechanical work on it. The mean Joule heating is
Faraday's law relates induced electromotive force to the rate of change of magnetic flux linkage. For a coil with turns and a consistent right-hand orientation,Flux can change through field variation or circuit motion. Lenz's law is the minus sign: the induced current's field opposes the flux change, consistent with energy conservation. It opposes the change rather than necessarily opposing the original field.
For a linear fixed-geometry inductor, and the self-induced electromotive force is . The passive terminal voltage drop is instead . The stored magnetic energy isInductance is measured in henries. Transformers use mutual inductance: changing one winding's current induces an electromotive force in another.
Electromagnetic induction is the production of an electromotive force by changing magnetic flux or by moving a conductor through a magnetic field. With the loop and surface orientations related by the right-hand rule, Faraday's law of induction isHere is the local wire velocity. For a stationary loop, the induced electric field can have a nonzero closed-path integral; its differential form is . For a straight rod moving perpendicularly to itself and to a uniform magnetic field, the motional electromotive force has magnitude .
The minus sign expresses Lenz's law: the induced electric current produces a magnetic field that opposes the change in linked magnetic flux. Pulling a conducting loop through a magnetic field therefore requires work against an electromagnetic resisting force; that work supplies the resulting heat or stored energy.
For an inductor with constant self-inductance, and its stored magnetic energy is . A changing electric current in one coil can induce an electromotive force in another through mutual inductance, the operating principle of a electrical transformer. These examples connect the flux law, the direction of the response and conservation of energy.
Faraday's law of induction relates an induced electromotive force to the rate of change of magnetic flux. Choose a positive orientation around a loop and its associated surface normal by the right-hand rule. For a stationary conducting loop,Unlike an electrostatic field, the induced electric field generally has nonzero curl; the differential form is . For a moving circuit, magnetic flux transport for a moving circuit includes the magnetic Lorentz force on the charges:where is the local wire velocity. Thus changing the field or moving a conductor can produce induction.
The minus sign is Lenz's law: an induced electric current, when a closed conducting path permits it, produces a magnetic field opposing the change of linked flux. It need not oppose the original field itself. For example, increasing flux through a loop produces a current tending to reduce that increase; decreasing the same flux reverses the current. The opposition is consistent with conservation of energy: external mechanical or electrical work is needed to maintain a change against its inductive reaction.
For a coil of turns, define the magnetic flux linkage , reducing to when every turn links the same flux. For fixed geometry and a linear magnetic response, self-inductance is defined by , and the coil's induced electromotive force isThe corresponding terminal voltage drop, with the passive sign convention, is . It opposes changes in electric current; it does not require the current itself to vanish.
Building the current from zero requires power . Integrating gives the energy stored by an ideal inductor:This energy is stored in the magnetic field and can be returned when the current falls. In a series RL circuit driven by a constant voltage , Kirchhoff's voltage law gives . Starting with zero current, , with time constant . This makes the resistance to rapid current changes directly observable. Two coils also have mutual inductance: changing primary current induces secondary electromotive force with a polarity determined by the chosen winding orientations, the principle behind a transformer.
Positive inductance matrix for two identical coils Created 2026-10-20 Updated 2026-11-05
For two identical ideal coils with self-inductance and signed mutual inductance , the magnetic energy isThe symmetric matrix has eigenvectors and with eigenvalues and . Strict positivity for every nonzero current vector therefore requires ; nonnegative energy alone permits . A singular limiting matrix has a zero-energy current combination, so formulas dividing by its eigenvalues require separate treatment. Reversing one coil's winding convention changes the sign of and exchanges the two combinations.
In this magnetic circuit approximation, each circular path has air-gap length , core length , and the same normal magnetic flux density in air and core. Ampère's law then gives ; integrating across the section gives the displayed mutual inductance. Even can strongly reduce inductance when is appreciable. This is a path estimate, not an exact local field solution in the slit geometry. It neglects magnetic fringing and redistribution between paths. In particular, a literal field proportional to everywhere in a current-free core is not curl-free; transverse corrections are required. Narrow-gap circuit approximations and their limitations are discussed in [ref].
