Question

A charged particle accelerated to a velocity v enters the chamber of a mass spectrometer. The particle's velocity is perpendicular to the direction of the uniform magnetic field B in the chamber. After the particle enters the magnetic field, its path is a:

Answer 1

Answer:

Circle

Explanation:

When a charged particle is in motion in a region with magnetic field, the particle experiences a force whose magnitude is given by

$F=qvB sin \theta$

where

q is the charge

v is the velocity of the particle

B is the strength of the magnetic field

$\theta$ is the angle between the directions of v and B

In this problem, the velocity of the particle is perpendicular to the magnetic field, so

$\theta=90^{\circ}$

and the formula reduces to

$F=qvB$

Also, the direction of this force is perpendicular to the direction of motion of the particle. This means that as the charge moves in the region of the magnetic field, the force acting on it acts as a centripetal force: therefore, the particle will start moving by unifom circular motion, with constant speed (because the magnetic force does no work on the particle, since it is perpendicular to the direction of motion).

So, the path of the particle will be a circle.