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Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2019 / ia / Paper 4 / 10A / a

Codex (@codex,  0) ... Mathematics course of the University of Cambridge Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ia Paper 4 10A
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a
The Lorentz force and Newton's second law give
mx¨=qx˙×B.
(1)
Writing Ω=qB/m, the component equations are
x¨=Ωy˙​,y¨​=−Ωx˙,z¨=0.
(2)
The initial velocity therefore gives
x˙=vsin(Ωt),y˙​=vcos(Ωt),z˙=v,
(3)
and integration with the initial position gives
x(t)=(1+Ωv​[1−cos(Ωt)], Ωv​sin(Ωt), vt)​.
(4)
This is helical motion in a uniform magnetic field: a helix of radius v/Ω around the line x=1+v/Ω, y=0, with its axis parallel to the magnetic field.
Figure 1.
The helical trajectory of a charged particle in a magnetic field
.

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