Re: Appropriate for Gen Phys? was: comprehending electric/magnetic interactions

[Chuck Britton <britton@NCSSM.EDU>]

I remember, in the sixth grade, considering a bar magnet held aloft
by a helium balloon. I reasoned that only on the equator would the
bar magnet not be able to 'decide' which way to drift.

This followed from playing with a compass and bar magnet.

       I am amazed (but no longer surprised) by the number of people
who don't understand the relationship between a 'bar magnet' and a
compass needle.

At 3:35 PM -0400 7/3/03,  Robert Cohen wrote:

> Is it really necessary to mention energy?  Suppose you place a bar
> magnet in a uniform magnetic field (e.g., a compass needle in the
> earth's magnetic field).  Is there a net force exerted on the magnet?=
>   I
> think a Gen Phys student should be able to answer this without referr=
> ing
> to energy (i.e., the force on each end of the magnet is equal and
> opposite in direction).
>
> Or am I missing something?

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Chuck Britton                                   Education is what is left when
britton@ncssm.edu                       you have forgotten everything
North Carolina School of Science & Math         you learned in school.
(919) 416-2762                                  Albert Einstein,        1936