Magnetic fields produced by electric railways
Physics Education
2020-12-02 v3 Popular Physics
Abstract
We propose a simple experiment to explore magnetic fields created by electric railways and compare them with a simple model and parameters estimated using easily available information. A pedestrian walking on an overpass above train tracks registers the components of the magnetic field with the built-in magnetometer of a smartphone. The experimental results are successfully compared with a model of the magnetic field of the transmission lines and the local Earth's magnetic field. This experiment, suitable for a field trip, involves several abilities, such as modeling the magnetic field of power lines, looking up reliable information and estimating non-easily accessible quantities.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2006.06481,
title = {Magnetic fields produced by electric railways},
author = {Martin Monteiro and Giovanni Organtini and Arturo C. Marti},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2006.06481},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
5 pages, 3 figures, some typos corrected