IB skill practice

Describe charged-particle motion in electromagnetic fields

Paper 1, Paper 2 5 marks Difficulty 3

Radius of charged-particle path

A particle in a parallel-plate accelerator has mass \(2.6e-6\,\text{kg}\), charge \(3.6e-6\,\text{C}\), speed \(775\,\text{m s}^{-1}\), and enters a \(0.24\,\text{T}\) magnetic field. Calculate the circular path radius. Enter the numerical result and choose the interpretation that matches the field physics.

Worked practice: physics data and result

Read the physical quantities first, then calculate the result and state what it means.