Earth's Magnetic Field EX-5539 Page 1 of 4

Earth's Magnetic Field

Equipment:
INCLUDED:
1 2-Axis Magnetic Field Sensor PS-2162
1 Zero Gauss Chamber EM-8652
1 Rotary Motion Sensor PS-2120
1 Dip Needle SF-8619
1 Aluminum Table Clamp ME-8995
1 25 cm Stainless Steel Rod (threaded) ME-8988
1 Adjustable Angle Clamp ME-8744
1 Angle Indicator ME-9495A
NOT INCLUDED, BUT REQUIRED:
1 850 Universal Interface UI-5000
1 PASCO Capstone UI-5400

Introduction:
The magnitude and direction of the Earth's magnetic field are measured using a Magnetic Field
Sensor mounted on a Rotary Motion Sensor. The Magnetic Field Sensor is rotated through 720
degrees in a horizontal plane and then 720 degrees in a vertical plane by rotating the Rotary
Motion Sensor pulley by hand. This allows a determination of the horizontal component of the
Earth’s magnetic field, the total field and the dip angle. The Magnetic Field Sensor is zeroed
using the Zero Gauss Chamber, the walls of which are made of a highly permeable material
which redirects the magnetic field around the chamber.

Theory:
The magnitude of the Earth's field varies over the surface of the Earth. The horizontal
component of the Earth's magnetic field points toward the Magnetic North Pole (which must
therefore have a South polarity). The north end of a compass needle is attracted to the south end
of the Earth's magnetic field. So the pole which is referred to as "North Magnetic Pole" is
actually a south magnetic pole. Don’t get confused. The physics is straight forward; it’s the
language that gets confused.
The total field points at an angle from the horizontal. This angle () is called the dip angle. An
example for the Northern hemisphere is shown in Figure 1.

cos  = BHorizontal/BTotal Eq. (1)

The Magnetic Field Sensor detects the component of the magnetic field in a direction that is
parallel to the clear probe on the sensor. If we rotate the sensor in a horizontal plane, the sensor
will detect the component of BHorizontal that lies along the clear probe and is given by

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B90 = BHorizontal cos  Eq. (2)

where  is the angle from magnetic north (see Figure 2) and B90 is the component of BHorizontal
(and of BTotal) in the horizontal plane (the 90 refers to the angle read by the angle indicator when
horizontal).
If we rotate the sensor in a vertical plane that includes BTotal, then the sensor will detect B00, the
component of BTotal in that plane and is given by

B00 = BTotal cos  Eq. (3)

Where  is defined in Figure 3. The angle from horizontal, , where B00 is maximum ( = 0)
will be the dip angle.

BHorizontal
θ

BVertical

BTotal

Figure 1: Components of the Magnetic Field (Northern Hemisphere)

Figure 2: Horizontal Plane Figure 3: Vertical Plane Defined by BTotal

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Earth's Magnetic Field EX-5539 Page 3 of 4

Figure 4: Setup Figure 5: Alternate Setup

Setup:
NOTE: During this experiment, keep the apparatus away from all sources of magnetic fields
(electrical, computers, computer interface, bar magnets). Also keep away from all ferromagnetic
materials (iron, steel chairs and tables). This is essential for good results since the Earth’s Field
is orders of magnitude smaller than the field near a refrigerator magnet.

1. Attach the Adjustable Angle Clamp to the Rotary Motion Sensor by removing the black cube
with the silver attachment bolts from the Adjustable Angle Clamp and screwing the exposed
bolt into the black cube on the Rotary Motion Sensor.

2. Assemble the system as shown in Figure 4. Note that the raised key inside the Magnetic Field
Sensor handle slides into the notch on the shaft of the Rotary Motion Sensor. Use the
provided nonmagnetic stainless steel rod in the table clamp. The table clamp is mostly
aluminum. Attach the Adjustable Angle Clamp as high as possible on the stainless steel rod
to keep the Magnetic Field Sensor as far away from the rod as possible. Alternately, if a large
rod base (ME-8735) and a 90 cm stainless steel rod (ME-8738) or longer are available, setting
up on the floor away from the lab table (see Figure 5) will help minimize the presence of
stray fields.

3. Plug the Rotary Motion Sensor and the Magnetic Field Sensor into any two PasPort inputs on
the 850 Universal Interface.

Procedure A: Horizontal Component of the Magnetic Field of the Earth

1. To allow the Magnetic Field Sensor to rotate in a horizontal circle, adjust the Rotary
Motion Sensor clamp so the angle indicator reads 90 degrees with the Magnetic Field

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Earth's Magnetic Field EX-5539 Page 4 of 4

Sensor on top.

2. Put the Dip Needle in its horizontal orientation and position the base of the Dip Needle
directly against the case of the Rotary Motion Sensor as shown in Figure 6. Rotate the
Rotary Motion Sensor until the compass needle is aligned with its holding fork (as shown
in Figure 6) and the north end of the needle is at the 270 degree mark. Remove the Dip
Needle so its magnetic field won't interfere with the experiment.

3. If a level is available, level the top of the case of the Rotary Motion Sensor along its long
axis. This is easier with the alternate setup, but possible with shims under the table legs
if using the standard setup. If it is off by less than 10 degrees, it won’t noticeably affect
the magnitudes of the magnet fields, but will affect the value of the dip angle.

4. Rotate the Magnetic Field Sensor so the length of the probe is perpendicular to the
direction of the Earth's field as indicated by the long axis Rotary Motion Sensor case.
Slip the Zero Gauss Chamber over the Magnetic Field Sensor probe and press the Tare
button on the Magnetic Field Sensor. Release the Tare button and then remove the Zero
Gauss Chamber. The horizontal component of the magnetic field is zero at an angle of
90 degrees from north. Pushing the Tare button here should set the sensor zero to zero at
this point. However, the magnetic field strength is only a few hundredths of a mT and
the noise is of the same order of magnitude. This means that instead of seeing zero when
perpendicular to the field and a field that goes symmetrically above and below zero, the
measured field will be shifted vertically a bit by this zero error depending on which
reading it uses for zero. This will not affect the experiment at all.

5. Align the Magnetic Field Sensor with the long axis of the Rotary Motion Sensor (as in
Figure 6) so it points due north. Click RECORD. Slowly (data rate is only 10 Hz) and
steadily rotate the Rotary Motion Sensor pulley through two and one quarter revolutions
clockwise. Click STOP. It will help if someone holds the cable clear. If the angles on
the graph are negative it will not affect anything, but you can get positive angles by
deleting this run and repeating the run while rotating in the opposite direction.

6. The field should have its most negative (most positive if you aligned south instead of
north) value at 00, 3600, and 7200. If not, you probably have not aligned the system
correctly and need to correct it and repeat the run.

7. Click on Data Summary at the left of the screen. Double click on this run (probably Run
#1) and re-label it “Horizontal 1”.
8. Repeat steps 5-7 twice more, labeling the runs “Horizontal 2” and “Horizontal 3”.

Written by Chuck Hunt

Earth's Magnetic Field EX-5539 Page 5 of 4

Figure 6: Aligning with North

Procedure B: Total Magnetic Field of the Earth

1. To allow the Magnetic Field Sensor to rotate in a vertical circle, adjust the Rotary Motion
Sensor clamp so the angle indicator reads zero degrees. Keep the Rotary Motion Sensor
aligned with the Earth's field as shown by the compass needle (Dip Needle).

2. Point the Magnetic Field Sensor probe horizontally.

3. With the Magnetic Field Sensor still horizontal, click RECORD. Slowly and steadily
rotate the Rotary Motion Sensor pulley through two and one quarter revolutions in a
direction so probe turns downward first. Click STOP.

4. Click on Data Summary at the left of the screen. Double click on this run and re-label it
“Vertical 1”.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 twice more. Label the runs “Vertical 2” and Vertical 3”.
6. Hold the Dip Needle (still in its horizontal position) on top of the Rotary Motion Sensor
case so it is level and align it so the needle points to the 2700 mark. Rotate the fork 900
so the needle pivots in a vertical plane. Allow the needle to come to rest and read the
number of degrees it is below horizontal (2700). Record the value in the table on the Dip
Angle page in line 5 of the Dip Angle table.

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Analysis:
1. Click the black triangle by the Run Select icon on the graph toolbar and select
“Horizontal 1”. Click the Scale to Fit icon on the graph toolbar.
2. Click the Selection icon on the graph toolbar and drag the handles on the Selection box to
highlight the data from just after you began taking data to just before you ended. Stay
away from the endpoints.
3. Click the black triangle by the Curve Fit icon and select Sine (see Theory to see why the
data should fit a sine curve). The sine curve on the screen may match your data well, but
the computer has some problems matching such noisy data. It the curve is clearly wrong,
try decreasing the width of the Selection box by moving the beginning and ending
handles. The sine curve will suddenly snap to the data, but you may have to play with it
a bit.
4. Record the value of the amplitude of the sine curve (A in the Sine box) in the Horizontal
row, Run 1 column of the table below. Ignore any minus sign. This is the value for
BHorizontal (BTotal for the vertical runs) since it is the maximum value if the curve were
symmetric about zero.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 for the other two horizontal runs.
6. Repeat steps 1-4 for the three vertical runs recording the amplitudes in the Total row.

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7. Note that for both the Horizontal field and the Total Field, the computer calculates the
average value and the uncertainty for the fields from your three values.

The Dip Angle:

1. Click on the black triangle by the Run Select icon on the graph toolbar and select “Vertical 1”.
2. Click on the Selection icon and drag the handles on the Selection box to highlight data from
just after you started the run to around 4000 (one full cycle plus a little). Click the Scale to Fit
icon.
3. Click the black triangle by the Curve Fit icon and select Sine. As before, you may have to
fiddle with the selection box handles to get a fit.
4. Estimate the angle at which the first minimum (first maximum if in magnetic southern
hemisphere) occurred. Best way to do this is to pick a horizontal line (constant magnetic field
strength) and average the values for the angle where the sine curve crosses the line before the
minimum with the angle where it crosses the line after the minimum. This is more accurate
that trying to judge the minimum since it is rather flat on the bottom. Enter your value in line
1 of the Dip Angle table. Repeat for the other two vertical runs, entering the values in lines 2

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and 3 of the table. Calculate the average of the three values and enter it in line 4.
5. Use the average values of BHorizontal and the total magnetic field, BTotal, from the previous page
to calculate the dip angle. Enter the value in line 6 of the Dip Angle table.
6. Do the different methods of finding the Dip Angle agree?

Written by Chuck Hunt