Force on Electron vs Proton#

At a given instant, an electron and a proton are moving with the same velocity in a constant magnetic field.

Part 1#

Compare the magnetic forces on these particles.

Answer Section#

  • Same magnitude, different direction.

  • Same magnitude, same direction.

  • Different magnitude, different direction.

  • Different magnitude, same direction.

Part 2#

Compare their accelerations.

Answer Section#

  • Same magnitude, different direction.

  • Same magnitude, same direction.

  • Different magnitude, different direction.

  • Different magnitude, same direction.

(1)The magnitude of the proton and electron magnetic forces are the same since they have the same amount of charge. The direction of these forces however are opposite of each other.

(2)The accelerations are opposite in direction and the electron has a larger acceleration than the proton due to its smaller mass.

Attribution#

Problem is licensed under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
The Creative Commons 4.0 license requiring attribution-BY, non-commercial-NC, and share-alike-SA license.