Enhancing electromagnetism experiments with clamp-on ammeters

Abstract

Experiments designed to illustrate the principles embodied in Ampere's Law and Faraday's Law often depend on the knowledge of the number of turns of wire on various types of laboratory coils. The lack of direct measurement of this parameter can be overcome with the use of inexpensive ͑Ͻ$85͒ digital clamp-on ammeters. The meters themselves illustrate the connection between the current enclosed by a closed path and the line integral of the magnetic intensity H around that contour. In this paper we present laboratory exercises that make essential use of clamp-on ammeters.