Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A small bar magnet has a magnetic moment of . It lies flat on a table at the point O, where the horizontal component of the Earth's field is , pointing north. The magnet lies along the north-south line with its north pole pointing north, as in the figure. A point is called neutral if the net magnetic field there is zero. Take and treat the magnet as a point dipole: at a distance from O its field is on the line of the magnet and on the line through O at right angles to the magnet.
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Given. , north, .
(a) The neutral point. With the north pole pointing north, the field of the magnet at the end of the line at right angles points south, against the Earth's field. They cancel where . So , and .
(b) The point P. On the line of the magnet the field is , which is at , and it points north, along the moment of the magnet. The Earth's field also points north, so the two add: .
(c) After the turn. Now the field of the magnet points south on its own line, against the Earth's field, so the neutral points move onto that line. They are where : , so .
(d) Torque. .
(e) Work. The potential energy goes from to , so .
Answer: (a) . (b) . (c) . (d) . (e) .
Check. Put the distances back. At on the line at right angles, , equal to . At on the line of the magnet, , also equal to .
Watch out. At P the field of the magnet alone is , twice the value it has at the same distance on the line at right angles, and it is not cancelled by the Earth's field: the two add.
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