The magnetic force exerted on the particle near either end of the bottle has a component that causes the particle to spiral back toward the center. Path of particle Figure 28.11 A charged particle moving in a nonuniform magnetic field (a magnetic bottle) spirals about the field and oscillates between the endpoints.
As shown a charged particle traveling in a nonuniform magnetic field forming a magnetic bottle. (a) Explain why the positively charged particle in the figure must be moving clockwise when viewed from the right of the figure. The particle travels along a helix whose radius decreases and whose pitch decreases as the particle moves into a stronger magnetic field. If the particle is moving to the right along the x axis, its velocity in this direction will be reduced to zero and it will be reflected from the right-hand side of the bottle, acting as a “magnetic mirror.” The particle ends up bouncing back and forth between the ends of the bottle. (b) Explain qualitatively why the axial velocity is reduced to zero as the particle moves into the region of strong magnetic field at the end of the bottle. (c) Explain why the tangential velocity increases as the particle approaches the end of the bottle. (d) Explain why the orbiting particle has a magnetic dipole moment.
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