NEW ERA SECONDARY SCHOOL

ASPIRATION AUROVILLE

AFILLILIATION NO: 1900810

PHYSICS

INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

ON

SELF CONDUCTANCE OF A COIL

BY

S.KANISHKARAN

XII-SCIENCE

2019-2020
 CONTENT

1. INTRODUCTION
2. AIM
3. MARTERIALS REQUIRED
4. THEORY
5. CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
6. PROCEDURE
7. OBSERVATIONS
8. RESULT
9. PRECAUTIONS
10. SOURCE OF ERROR
11. REFERENCES
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my thanks to my parents who provide me sufficient money and for helping me

to do this project. Special thanks to my principal Mr.K.Anbu who gave support and library

facilities. I wish to thank my physics teacher for guiding the project work. I am

thankful to my friends, teachers, students who really showed constructive feedbacks and

suggestions without this project would not be possible.

Introduction

In electromagnetism and electronics, inductance is the property of an electrical conductor by

which a change in current through it induces an electromotive force in both the conductor
itself and in any nearby conductors by mutual inductance.

These effects are derived from two fundamental observations of physics: a steady current
creates a steady magnetic field described by Oersted’s law, and a time-varying magnetic field
induces an electromotive force (EMF) in nearby conductors, which is described by Faraday’s
law of induction. According to Lenz’s law a changing electric current through a circuit that
contains inductance induces a EMF , which opposes the change in current (self-inductance).
The varying field in this circuit may also induce an EMF in neighbouring circuits (mutual
inductance).

The term inductance was coined by Oliver Heaviside in 1886. It is customary to use the
symbol (L) for inductance, in honour of the physicist Heinrich Lenz in the SI system, the
measurement unit for inductance is the Henry, with the unit symbol H, named in honour of
Joseph Henry who discovered inductance independently of, but not before, Faraday.

Lenz's law named after the physicist Heinrich Lenz who formulated in 1834, says:

The direction of current induced in a conductor by a changing magnetic field due to

Faraday’s law of induction will be such that it will create a field that opposes the change that
produced it.
Lenz's law can be seen as analogous to Newton’s third law in classic mechanics.

For a rigorous mathematical treatment, see electromagnetic induction and Maxwell’s

equations.

Inductors do this by generating a self-induced emf within itself as a result of their changing
magnetic field. In an electrical circuit, when the emf is induced in the same circuit in which
the current is changing this effect is called Self-induction( L ) but it is sometimes commonly
called back-emf as its polarity is in the opposite direction to the applied voltage.

When the emf is induced into an adjacent component situated within the same magnetic field,
the emf is said to be induced by induction(M) and mutual induction is the basic operating
principal of transformers, motors, relays etc. Self inductance is a special case of mutual
inductance, and because it is produced within a single isolated circuit we generally call self-
inductance.

The basic unit of measurement for inductance is called the Henry(H) after Joseph Henry, but
it also has the units of Weber per Ampere ( 1 H = 1 Wb/A ).

Lenz’s Law tells us that an induced emf generates a current in a direction which opposes the
change in flux which caused the emf in the first place, the principal of action and reaction.
Then we can accurately define Inductance as being: “a coil will have an inductance value of
one Henry when an emf of one volt is induced in the coil were the current flowing through
the said coil changes at a rate of one ampere/second”.

In other words, a coil has an inductance( L ) of one Henry( 1H ) when the current flowing
through it changes at a rate of one ampere/second( A/s ) inducing a voltage of one volt( VL )
in it.

This mathematical representation of the rate of change in current through a coil per unit time
is given as:

VLα dI/dt (A/s)

Where: dI is the change in the current in Amperes and (dt) is the time taken for this current
change in seconds. Then the voltage induced in a coil( VL ) with an inductance of L as a
result of this change in current is expressed as:

VL = -L dI/dt

[Note that the negative sign indicates that voltage induced opposes the change in current
through the coil per unit time (dI/dt).]

From the above equation, the inductance of a coil can therefore be presented as:

Inductance of a Coil

L = VL/(dI/dt) = 1volt/(1A/s) = 1Henry

Where: L is the inductance in Henries, VL is the voltage across the coil and di/dt is the rate of
change of current in Amperes per second(A/s)

Inductance is actually a measure of an inductors “resistance” to the change of the current

flowing through the circuit and the larger is its value in Henries, the lower will be the rate of
current change.

We know from the previous tutorial about the inductor, that inductors are devices that can
store their energy in the form of a magnetic field. Inductors are made from individual loops
of wire combined to produce a coil and if the number of loops within the coil are increased,
then for the same amount of current flowing through the coil, the magnetic flux will also
increase.

So by increasing the number of loops or turns within a coil, increases the coils inductance.
Then the relationship between self-inductance( L ) and the number of turns( N ) and for a
simple single layered coil can be given as:

Self Inductance of a Coil

L = Nφ/I

Where:
L is the self inductance of a coil(H)

N is the Number of Turns

Φ is the Magnetic Flux Linkage

Ι is the current passing through the coil(A)

This expression can also be defined as the flux linkage divided by the current flowing
through each turn. This equation only applies to linear magnetic materials.
Aim

To study the factor on which the self inductance of a coil depends by observing the effect of
this coil, when put in series with a resistor (bulb) in a circuit fed up by an A.C. source of
adjustable frequency.
Materials Required:

 A coil of large turns

 A.C. source of adjustable frequency
 An electrical bulb
 (6V) A.C. ammeter of suitable range
 Rheostat
 A soft iron rod
 One way key
 Connecting wires
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM
Theory
Self inductance is the property of a coil which opposes the change in current through it. The
self inductance of a coil (long solenoid) is

L =( μ0 μr N2 A)/l

where µr = Relative magnetic permeability of magnetic material,

µr=μ/μ0

N =Total number of turns in solenoid

A = Area of cross-section of solenoid

l = Length of the solenoid

Hence, the self inductance depends upon

 No. of turns in solenoid

 Geometry of coil
 Nature of core material

When an inductor is connected in series with a resistor (bulb) with a variable source of
frequency , then current flowing in the bulb is

Irms = Erms/Z

where Z =√(R2 )+ ω2 L2 = Impedance of the a.c. circuit, here

R = Resistance of bulb

L = Self inductance of coil

ω = 2πf = Angular frequency of a.c. source.

The brightness of bulb i.e., Heat generated in bulb is

H = Irms2Zt

P = H/t = Irms2Z

P = Irms2 √R2 + ω2 L2
Procedure:

1. Made all connections as shown in circuit diagram.

2. Switch on the A.C. supply and adjust the constant current in the circuit by using the
rheostat (R1) (let frequency of source is 60 Hz and voltage is 6V).
3. Record the current in A.C. ammeter and checked the brightness of bulb.
4. Now, put the soft iron rod inside the inductor core and record the current in A.C.
ammeter and again check the brightness of bulb. The current and brightness both
decreases.
5. Now, switch off the supply and decrease the frequency of A.C. source (say 50 Hz).
6. Again switched on the supply and adjusted the current in the circuit at a constant
voltage (6V) by using the rheostat. Note d the reading of the ammeter and checked the
brightness of bulb. The current and brightness both will increases.
7. Again inserted the iron in the core of coil and noted the current and observed the
brightness of the bulb. The current and brightness both decreases.
8. Repeat the steps 5, 6 and 7 for different frequency of A.C. source(say 40 Hz,30 Hz
and 20 Hz).
Observations:

1. Least count of ammeter = 0.05 A

2. Zero error of ammeter= 0 A

3. Range of ammeter= 0.5 A

S.No Frequency of applied Current in ammeter Current in ampere with

voltage without iron rod in iron rod in coil(A)
coil(A)

1. 60 2 1.6
2. 50 2.5 2.2
3. 40 2.9 2.5
4. 30 3.2 3.3
5. 20 4.0 4.2
Result:

1. The current in the circuit decrease on inserting the iron rod in the core of coil at constant
frequent of applied voltage and brightness of bulb decrease and vice-versa.

2. The current in the circuit increase on decreasing the frequency of applied voltage and vice-
versa. Therefore, the brightness of bulb increase.
Precautions:-

1. The coil should have number of turn.

2. Current should be passed for a small time to avoid the heating effect.

3. There should not be parallax in taking the reading of ammeter.

Source of Error:-

1. The resistance of circuit may increase slightly due to heating effect of current.

2. There may be eddy current in soft iron coil.

References

1.http://www.tutorvista.com/content/science/science-ii/magnetic-effects-electric-
current/force-current-carrying-conductor.php

2. http://gradestack.com/CBSE-Class-10th-Course/Magnetic-Effects-of/Force-on-a-Current-
/15035-2998-4742-study-wtw

3. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/forwir2.html