Paper detail

Energy and Angular Momentum Storage in a Rotating Magnet

We consider a cylindrical metallic magnet that is set into rotation about a horizontal axis by a falling mass. In such a system the magnetic field will cause a radial current which is non-solenoidal. This leads to charge accumulation and a partial attenuation of radial current. The magnetic field acting on the radially flowing current slows down the acceleration. Using newtonian dynamics we evaluate the angular velocity and displacement. We explicitly show that the electromagnetic angular momentum must be taken into consideration in order to account for the change in angular momentum due to the external torque on the system. Further the loss in potential energy of the falling mass can be accounted for only after taking into consideration the electrostatic energy and the Joule loss. We suggest that this example will be of pedagogical value to intermediate physics students. A version of this is scheduled to appear in American Journal of Physics 2011. Keywords: Rotating magnet, Charge accumulation