Question

In an experiment to graphically verify Faraday's law, using two coils of wire: a source coil and a pickup coil, we performed the following steps:

We set the Vdc of the function generator to 1, which led to an increase in voltage in the pickup coil. We set the Vdc of the function generator to -1 which had no change to the pickup coil. What does this prove about Faraday's Law

Answer 1

The observation in the experiment with the pickup coil confirms Faraday's Law, which states that an electromotive force is induced in a coil only when there is a change in the magnetic environment of the coil.

Step-by-step explanation:

In an experiment to graphically verify Faraday's Law, when a DC voltage from a function generator was set to 1, an increase in voltage was observed in the pickup coil. However, when the voltage was set to -1 and no change was observed, this suggests Faraday's Law's key principle: an electromotive force (emf) is induced in the coil only when there is a change in the magnetic environment of the coil. In this case, setting the DC voltage to -1 likely implied a constant magnetic field which in turn did not induce an emf in the pickup coil, consistent with Faraday's Law.

According to Faraday's Law, a current is induced in a coil when there is a change in the magnetic field within it. This may be achieved by either moving a magnet relative to the coil or changing the current in an adjacent coil, which both result in a changing magnetic field. Static magnetic fields or steady currents would not cause any induction, hence no voltage change in the pickup coil would be observed as seen in the experiment with the Vdc set to -1.