Q49P

Question

The exchange coupling mentioned in Section 32-11 as being responsible for ferromagnetism is not the mutual magnetic interaction between two elementary magnetic dipoles. To show this, (a) Calculate the magnitude of the magnetic field a distance of 10 nmaway, along the dipole axis, from an atom with magnetic dipole moment  1.5×10-23 J/T(cobalt), and (b) Calculate the minimum energy required to turn a second identical dipole end for end in this field.  (c) By comparing the latter with the mean translational kinetic energy of  0.040 eV, what can you conclude?

Step-by-Step Solution

Verified
Answer
  1. The magnitude of the magnetic field is, B=3.0×10-6 T
  2. The minimum energy required is, Uminimum=5.6×10-10eV 
  3. The collision would easily randomize the direction of moments, and they would not remain aligned.
1Step 1: Listing the given quantities

μB=1.5×10-23J/T 

r=10 nm=10×10-9m

2Step 2: Understanding the concepts of magnetic field

Here, we need to use the equation of magnetic field due to magnetic dipole moment. The minimum energy can be calculated using the equation of energy related to magnetic dipole moment and magnetic field.


Formulae:


Magnetic field due to the dipole moment μB at a distance r is

B=μ02πμBr3 

3Step 3: (a) Calculations of the magnitude of the magnetic field

The required field along the dipole axis:


B=μ02πμBr3 =4π×1072π1.5×1023(108)3=3.0×106 T


The magnitude of the magnetic field is, B=3.0×10-6 T

4Step 4: (b) Calculations of the minimum energy required to turn the dipole end in the above calculated magnetic field

Uminimum=μBB(cos(ϕ2)cos(ϕ1))=1.5×1023×3.0×106×(cos(0)cos(180))=9.0×10-29  J=9.0×10291.6×1019=5.6×10-10eV


The minimum energy required is, Uminimum=5.6×10-10eV 

5Step 5: (c) Explanation

As the mean translational kinetic energy (0.04 eV) is much larger than the required energy of the aligning dipoles, if dipole – dipole interactions were responsible for aligning dipoles, the collision would easily disturb the direction of moments, and they would not remain aligned.