Brown University PHYS 0060

Physics Department LAB B - 215

DETERMINING MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY

WITH A GOUY BALANCE

REFERENCES:

Purcell, Edward M. Electricity and Magnetism. Vol. 2. N.p.: McGraw-Hill, 1985. Print.
Chapter 11, 397-450.

Oldenberg, Otto, and Norman C. Rasmussen. Modern Physics for Engineers. N.p.:
McGraw-Hill, 1966. Print. 251-255.

Ford, Kenneth W. Classical and Modern Physics. Vol. 4. N.p.: Xerox Corporation, 1972.
Print. Sec. 16.10 “Magnetism in matter,” 797-800.

Feynman, Richard. The Feynman Lectures. Vol. 2. <www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu>

Chapter 34 “The Magnetism of Matter.”

Teachspin, Inc. The Relaxation Times. Vol. IV, No. 9. February 2015. “Foundational
Magnetic Susceptibility.”

INTRODUCTION:

Magnetic susceptibility χ is a quality unique to each material (much like conductivity and
resistivity) and is defined as the ratio of the magnetization of the material to the applied magnetic
field. For small magnetic fields:

⃑⃑ ⃑

where ⃑⃑ is the magnetization and ⃑ is the magnetic field.

Materials may be split into one of three magnetic classes: diamagnetic materials, paramagnetic
materials, and ferromagnetic materials. In diamagnetic materials, like water, the magnetic
effects of spin and orbital motion cancel each other out. Small dipole moments can be induced
by an external field. Thus, diamagnetic materials are weakly repelled by a regular magnet.
Paramagnetic materials, like aluminum, have permanent magnetic dipole moments in each
particle. They are weakly attracted to an ordinary magnet. Ferromagnetic materials greatly
strengthen the magnetic field and are strongly attracted to an ordinary magnet.
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It is easy to deduce that the ferromagnetic materials produce a much bigger force and change in
the magnetic field than those of the other two categories. In this experiment, you will be working
with diamagnetic and paramagnetic substances.

One simple way to experimentally determine the magnetic susceptibility of a specific material is
the Gouy method. The method determines the force exerted on a sample through a change in
mass, and uses that value to find the susceptibility. In this experiment, you will determine the
magnetic susceptibility of a number of materials by using a sample, a magnetic field, and a mass
balance, and compare the values to the known material susceptibilities.

THEORY:

For diamagnetic materials, let us imagine that an atom that is a nucleus in a stationary cloud of
electrons is placed in a magnetic field, as in Fig. 1a. When the field increases, a torque is exerted
on the charges. As a result, the charges circulate in the direction as shown in Fig. 1b. A
circulating current is therefore set up in a direction opposite to the electron flow (Fig. 1c). This
current produces a magnetic field in a direction opposite to the applied field, and so the
substance is repelled by the magnetic field. For more information on diamagnetism, see
APPENDIX A.

Figure 1 The origin of diamagnetism. (a) The electron cloud; (b) the current induced
by a varying magnetic field into the plane of the paper; (c) the magnetic field cause by this
current is out of the paper (opposite to the inducing field)

All atoms behave this way, but because the repulsion is so weak, the only materials that exhibit
diamagnetic effects are those with very weak atomic magnetic moments. For materials with their
own permanent magnetic dipole moments, other effects are strong enough to outweigh repulsion.

If we lower a sample of a substance into a region of magnetic field between two poles, a force
will be produced. The Gouy balance measures this force as an apparent change of mass of a

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sample. Using a simple mass balance, two measurements are taken, m0 (the initial mass reading)
and mf (the final mass reading after lowering the sample into the field).

The force is thus given by:

( ) (1)

where g is the acceleration due to gravity (about 9.8 m/s2).

We now derive an expression for the force applied by the magnet on the sample. A substance’s
magnetic permeability  is given by:

( ) (2)

where 0 is the permeability of free space or the magnetic constant (4π × 10-7 N/A2) and χ
is the magnetic susceptibility.

We may find the difference in magnetic potential energy per unit volume between a substance of
magnetic permeability  and the displaced medium (in our case, air, which has the permeability
of free space):

( ) ( ) ( )
( )

( ) ( )
(3)

Eq. 3 may be further simplified knowing the fact that (that is, the magnetic susceptibility
is significantly smaller than 1). When this is the case, a value like χ becomes negligible. So we
can make the approximation to get:

( ) (4)

Let us now consider a gradient in the field along the z-direction (upwards direction), as there is in
the case of this experiment. If we assume that the magnetic susceptibility is constant throughout
the sample, the force per unit volume f experienced by the sample is given by:

( ) (5)

Using Eq. 5, we can then integrate over the length (with a constant cross-sectional area A) to find
the total force on the sample by the magnetic field. Here, we will simply denote the top and the
bottom z-values of the sample as “top” and “bottom”.

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∫ ( ) (6)

where A is the cross-sectional area of the sample and H is a measure of magnetic field at
the top and bottom of the sample, respectively.

Htop and Hbottom are the measured magnetic fields at the top and bottom of the sample. If the
length of the sample is sufficiently long, Htop may be treated as zero and Hbottom may be
generalized to simply H. Thus, Eq. 5 can be simplified.

(7)

Now, if we equate Eq. 1 and Eq. 7, we may solve for the magnetic susceptibility:

(8)

All of these values are able to be attained experimentally with the materials listed in the
“EQUIPMENT” section of this manual.

Below, you may find a table of some materials and their accepted magnetic susceptibilities and
densities (SI units).

Material Magnetic Susceptibility Density (103 kg/m3)

Aluminum 1.65 × 10-5 2.70
Copper -5.46 × 10-6 8.96
Lead -2.30 × 10-5 11.36
Tin -3.74 × 10-5 7.28
Titanium 1.51 × 10-4 4.50
Zinc -9.15 × 10-6 7.12
Water -9.04 × 10-5 1.00

Table 1: Magnetic Susceptibilities and Densities

EQUIPMENT:

- Mass balance (specific to 0.1 mg)

- Glass tube
- Metal cylinders
- Lightweight neodymium magnet assembly*
- Vernier calipers

* There is a magnet assembly available for use in this experiment. It has a mass of ~75 g, with an
air gap between the magnets of ~2 cm and magnetic field of ~0.22 T

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PROCEDURE:

First, use a magnetic field probe to measure the strength of the field at the center of the magnet,
where the bottom of the sample will be lowered. The strength of the magnetic field should be
greater than 700 Gauss, so that the effects may be larger and more accurately read. For an
alternate way to measure the magnetic field, see APPENDIX B.

Next, place the magnet and magnet stand in a mass balance. The change in weight can be
measured two ways. The scale may be tared after the magnets are first put on, and the weight
change will be displayed right on the scale. Or, two separate mass measurements may be taken,
and the difference can be later calculated by hand.

Before making any measurement with a sample, be sure to measure the diameter/radius with a
vernier caliper. While the radius of the sample won’t largely contribute to the experiment’s
effectiveness, the length should exceed at least 3 cm. Without this minimum length requirement,
the approximation for the magnetic field made from Eq. 2 will no longer apply. (If you are
testing for the density for a specific metal sample, be sure to measure the length precisely.)

After the balance has steadied, carefully lower the sample until it hangs in between the magnets.
Hold the sample in place until the next reading has steadied, and record it in your lab notebook.
Readjust the scale, and the repeat the same procedure until you have acquired a good amount of
data points. The procedure is further illustrated in Fig. 2a and 2b below.

Figure 2 Basic diagram of the procedure. (a) The mass balance before lowering
the sample. The magnet rests on the balance, and the sample hangs suspended
from above, ready to be lowered; (b) The final position of the lowered sample. The
bottom of the sample should align with the center of the magnets and held still until
an accurate reading is shown on the balance.

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You may follow the same procedure for various samples. The metal cylinders may be attached to
the pole/string used to lower the sample. For the water sample, fill the glass tube cylinder with
water and attach it to the end of the string using putty or some other adhesive material.

There are a number of ways to evaluate your data. For example, you may plot your experimental
results for magnetic susceptibility against the actual values for each material, and see how close
your slope for the line of linear regression is to 1. You may also use the experimental
susceptibility and density to determine the specific metal of your sample.

NOTE:

While the given susceptibility of water is correct, tap water is likely to have debris that may
interfere with your results. See if you can use distilled water in your experiment instead.

OTHER QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

 How accurate was your experimental susceptibility for water? Do you think the glass
tube that the sample was held in greatly affected your results? (Do the calculation!)
Would the effect account for the error in your value?

 What other diamagnetic and paramagnetic materials can you think of to try this
experiment on? If they are easily obtainable, try the experiment on them.

 Which magnetic field measuring procedure is more reliable, the magnetic field probe or
the procedure outlined in APPENDIX B? Why? Try measuring the same field with both.
Do they yield the same results?

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APPENDIX A

SEMI-CLASSICAL DERIVATION OF LANGEVIN DIAMAGNETISM

(See: The Feynman Lectures, Vol. II, 34-4)

Figure A-1 The induced electric forces on an electron in an atom. The path selected is
a circle of radius r.

Imagine that a magnetic field is slowly turned on near an atom. An electric field is thus generated
by magnetic induction. We know from Faraday’s Law that the line integral of E around any
closed path is given by the rate of change of magnetic flux through the path. We pick a path Γ
(Fig. A-1) that is a circle concentric with the center of the atom. Thus, the average tangential
electric field around this path is:

( )

There is a circulating electric field with strength:

The induced electric field will produce a torque on an electron in the atom. This torque, also
equal to the rate of change in angular momentum J, is equal in magnitude to . If we
substitute our expression for the circulating electric field in for E, we arrive at the following:

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We arrive at the second equation by integrating with respect to time in zero field. This is the
extra angular momentum given to the electrons in the atom when the field is turned on. The
added angular momentum gives an extra magnetic moment. Because it is an orbital motion, the
magnetic moment is simply equal to ⁄ times the angular momentum. Thus:

The added moment is opposite to the magnetic field, as denoted from the minus sign.

There are a few things to consider. The r2 in our expression is the radius from an axis through the
atom parallel to B. Therefore, if B is along the z-direction, it is x2 + y2. If we consider spherically
symmetric atoms (or average over atoms with their natural axes in all directions) the average
of x2+y2 is 2/3 of the average of the square of the true radial distance from the center point of the
atom. It is therefore usually more convenient to write the change in the magnetic moment as:

〈 〉

This is diamagnetism of matter. The same effect occurs even when an atom already has a
permanent moment.

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APPENDIX B

MEASURING MAGNETIC FIELD WITH A CURRENT-CARRYING WIRE

For those looking for an alternative way for measuring the magnetic field, there is a way to do so
that does not require a special magnetic field probe.

This method (illustrated in Fig. B-1) employs a current-carrying U-shaped wire that is lowered to
the region of the magnetic field. This wire is connected to a power supply with variable current
and voltage. A DC electric current i flows across a length Lx and interacts with the magnetic field
By, producing a vertical force. The magnitude of the vertical force is given by the Lorentz law as:

where the subscripts x, y, and z denote the direction of the values.

Figure B-1 Basic diagram of this procedure. A wire is looped into a U-shape and
connected to a power supply as shown. (a) The wire hangs above the mass balance,
not affecting the magnets on the scale; (b) The wire is lowered and the difference in
weight is observed.

Just as in the original experiment, this force can also be measured as a weight change on the
balance, so one may solve for the magnetic field value:

Because the current is variable, you can easily collect a number of data points for i and Δm and
graph them, solving for the slope, as shown from the following sample data (acquired in the lab):

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Lx = 0.021 m
i (A) Δm (g)
0.01 0.0050
0.10 0.0489
0.15 0.0738
0.20 0.0988
0.25 0.1210
-0.01 -0.0052
-0.10 -0.0485
-0.15 -0.0759
-0.20 -0.0977
-0.25 -0.1244

Table B-1: Sample data for current and mass change

We graph the data, plotting data points with our Δm data on the x-coordinate and the
corresponding current i data on the y-coordinate. Because there is no y-intercept in our
theoretical equation, we can force the intercept through the origin when we calculate our line of
linear regression.

Δm / i
0.15
y = 0.492x
0.1 R² = 0.9998

0.05

Δm (g) 0
-0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3
-0.05

-0.1

-0.15
i (A)

Figure B-2 Graph of sample experimental results, with equation and r2

value displayed.

From the slope of the line, we can see that our data yields an average value for ⁄ of 0.492
g/A. This can easily be converted to SI units by changing grams to kilograms, yielding the value
.

Now, using the acceleration due to gravity and our measured length value, it is easy to solve for
the magnetic field:

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( )

For more information on this experimental technique, see the Instructional Manual and
Experiment Guide for the PASCO scientific Model SF-8607 and SF-8608 “Basic Current
Balance and Current Balance Accessory,” available on the Physics Lab Wiki under this
experiment.

*Diagrams drawn in MS Paint

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