Skip to content
Worked Examples · Example 6.1

Q.Consider Experiment 6.2.

(a) What would you do to obtain a large deflection of the galvanometer?
(b) How would you demonstrate the presence of an induced current in the absence of a galvanometer?
CBSENCERTSubjective· 3mImportance★★★★★
2% · 1/50 Questions
✓ Free question

This question is about NCERT's Experiment 6.2 — coil C2, carrying a steady current from a battery, is moved relative to a stationary coil C1 that is wired to a galvanometer G (Fig 6.2), not a bar magnet. To get a large deflection: insert a soft-iron rod inside C2, use a more powerful battery for C2, or move C2 faster. Without a galvanometer, a small bulb in place of G will glow whenever the coils are in relative motion.

What Experiment 6.2 actually is

Unlike Experiment 6.1 (a bar magnet moved near a coil), NCERT's Experiment 6.2 uses two coils: coil C2 is connected to a battery (through a tapping key), so it carries a steady current and behaves like an electromagnet; coil C1 is connected to a galvanometer G. When C2 is moved towards or away from C1, G deflects — and reverses direction when C2's motion reverses. The deflection lasts only while C2 is actually moving; it is the relative motion between the two coils, not the presence of a magnet, that induces the current.


(a) How to obtain a large deflection of the galvanometer?

The galvanometer deflection is proportional to the induced current in C1, which by Faraday's law depends on the rate of change of the flux C1 links from C2's field:

E=−N1dΦBdt\mathcal{E} = -N_1 \frac{d\Phi_B}{dt}

So, to get a large deflection:

  1. Insert a soft-iron rod inside coil C2. Iron has a high magnetic permeability, so it dramatically strengthens C2's field for the same current — this is exactly the effect NCERT's own Experiment 6.3 discussion notes: "the deflection increases dramatically when an iron rod is inserted into the coils along their axis."
  2. Connect C2 to a more powerful battery. A larger current in C2 produces a stronger field, so moving it produces a bigger change of flux in C1.
  3. Move the arrangement (coil C2) rapidly towards the test coil C1. Since the induced emf depends on the rate of change of flux, a fast motion gives a much bigger deflection than a slow one.
Watch out

The apparatus here is two COILS, not a bar magnet and a coil — that setup is Experiment 6.1, a different experiment from the one this question actually asks about ("Consider Experiment 6.2").

(b) How to demonstrate induced current without a galvanometer?

Replace the galvanometer by a small bulb — the kind found in a small torch light. The relative motion between the two coils will cause the bulb to glow (even briefly), directly demonstrating the presence of an induced current without needing a sensitive current-measuring instrument.

Tip

In experimental physics one must learn to innovate — Michael Faraday, ranked among the best experimentalists ever, was legendary for exactly this kind of innovative substitution.


✓Final answer

  1. Insert a soft-iron rod inside coil C2, use a more powerful battery for C2, and/or move C2 rapidly towards C1 — each increases the rate of change of flux linked with C1, giving a larger galvanometer deflection.
  2. Replace the galvanometer with a small bulb; the relative motion between the two coils will make it glow, demonstrating the induced current.

Unlock everything free for 14 days

  • Full step-by-step solutions
  • Concept-first explanations
  • Methods, shortcuts & mistakes
  • PYQ mapping + timed mock tests

Full access for 14 days. No credit card required.