**41. The two conducting rails in the drawing are tilted upward so they each make an angle of 30.0° with respect to the ground. The vertical magnetic field has a magnitude of 0.050 T. The 0.20-kg aluminum rod (length = 1.6 m) slides without friction down the rails at a constant velocity. How much current flows through the rod?

 

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Free Body Diagram

The velocity is down the ramp, so re-draw free-body diagram using the better components of both weight and magnetic force.

We know the rod slides without accelerating so the sum of forces parallel to the rails is

 

 

 

Solve for i

 

 

 

 

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This page last updated on June 21, 2018