Question

In the Phineas and Ferb episode “Rollercoaster” the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz wanted to reverse the rotation of the Earth by coating the entire Eastern Seaboard in tin foil, and then use the magnetism magnetfinator to pull this tinfoil and reverse the rotation of the Earth. If a positively charged Alpha particle (not drawn to scale) from the sun is traveling in a downward direction, what direction will the Alpha particle be deflected? Assume the magnetic field produced by the magnetism magnetfinator points away from the magnet. Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

The direction of the magnetic field points in the south west direction i.e along the direction of the earth's axis of rotation which is at an angle of approximately 23⁰ with respect to the north -south direction when its rotation is reversed. Therefore we deduce from Lorentz's force law that the alpha particle is deflected in a direction normal to the plane formed by the 2 vectors and and out of the plane.