Mathcad Community Challenge March 2025 - Magnetism!
This month’s challenge is based on magnetism. Create a Mathcad worksheet to answer any or all of the following:
Basic Challenge:
- What is the magnetic field strength of 15 Ampere current in a wire at a distance of 0.25 meters?
- How many turns of wire will be needed to create an electromagnet capable of lifting 1 kilogram of ferrous material if the current is 0.25 Amperes, the lifting face of the magnet is a circle with a diameter of 5 cm, and the length of the coil is 0.1 m? Assume a relative magnetic permeability of 750.
- What is the total magnetic energy of the Earth? (Assume a magnetic field strength between 0.22 and 0.67 Gauss.)
One resource for the equations to solve these problems is NASA’s Magnetic Math ebook.
Graphing Challenge
Create a 3D plot of the force generated by an electromagnet as a function of electrical current and surface area of the lifting face of the electromagnet. (Choose any values you want for the other parameters of the electromagnet.)
Creative hard challenge: can you represent a magnetic field in a plot or chart in Mathcad? (Seriously, I have no idea how I would approach this.)
Advanced Challenge
The earth’s magnetic field currently decays approximately 6.3% per century. How many years is it until earth’s magnetic field will be 50% of its current strength assuming (1) linear decay and (2) exponential decay? How long until 25%, 10%, and 1%?
Mathcad Prime 10 Challenge
Incorporate an advanced input control (e.g., sliders, radio buttons, list boxes) into any of the above challenges.
Find the Mathcad Community Challenge Guidelines here!