Question

A positively-charged particle projected towards east is deflected towards north by a magnetic field. The field may be

Options

• towards west

• towards south

• upwards

• downwards

Answer 1

downwards

A positively-charged particle projected towards east can be considered as current in the eastern direction. Here, the positive charge is deflected towards the north by a magnetic field, i.e. the positively-charged particle experiences a force in the northern direction.

Hence, in order to determine the direction of the magnetic field, we apply Fleming's left-hand rule. According to this rule, when we stretch the thumb, the fore-finger and the middle finger mutually perpendicular to each other, then the thumb gives the direction of the force experienced by the charged particle, the fore-finger gives the direction of the magnetic field and the middle finger gives the direction of the current. Thus, if we direct the middle finger in the eastern direction, the thumb in the northern direction, we see that the fore-finger points in the downward direction.

Thus, the direction of the magnetic field is found to be in the downward direction.