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handbook of modern sensors

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54 3 Physical Principles <strong>of</strong> Sensing<br />

field in terms <strong>of</strong> deflected charge, its velocity, and deflecting force. Therefore, the<br />

units <strong>of</strong> B is (Newton/coulomb)/(meter/second) − 1. In the SI system, it is given<br />

the name tesla (abbreviated T). Because coulomb/second is an ampere, we have<br />

1T=1 Newton/(ampere meter). An older unit for B is still in use. It is the gauss:<br />

1 tesla = 10 4 gauss.<br />

3.3.2 Solenoid<br />

A practical device for producing a magnetic field is called a solenoid. It is a long wire<br />

wound in a close-packed helix and carrying a current i. In the following discussion,<br />

we assume that the helix is very long compared to its diameter. The solenoid magnetic<br />

field is the vector sum <strong>of</strong> the fields set up by all the turns that make up the solenoid.<br />

If a coil (solenoid) has widely spaced turns, the fields tend to cancel between the<br />

wires. At points inside the solenoid and reasonably far from the wires, B is parallel<br />

to the solenoid axis. In the limiting case <strong>of</strong> adjacent very tightly packed wires (Fig.<br />

3.14A), the solenoid becomes essentially a cylindrical current sheet. If we apply<br />

Ampere’s law to that current sheet, the magnitude <strong>of</strong> magnetic field inside the solenoid<br />

becomes<br />

B = µ 0 i 0 n, (3.31)<br />

where n is the number <strong>of</strong> turns per unit length and i 0 is the current through the solenoid<br />

wire. Although, this formula was derived for an infinitely long solenoid, it holds quite<br />

well for actual solenoids for internal points near the center <strong>of</strong> the solenoid. It should<br />

be noted that B does not depend on the diameter or the length <strong>of</strong> the solenoid and that<br />

B is constant over the solenoid cross section. Because the solenoid’s diameter is not<br />

a part <strong>of</strong> the equation, multiple layers <strong>of</strong> winding can be used to produce a magnetic<br />

field <strong>of</strong> higher strength. It should be noted that the magnetic field outside <strong>of</strong> a solenoid<br />

is weaker than that <strong>of</strong> the inside.<br />

(A)<br />

(B)<br />

Fig. 3.14. Solenoid (A) and toroid (B).

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