Magnetic braking revisited

The braking force acting on a conducting disk rotating under the influence of an external magnetic field of axial symmetry is calculated in a quasi-static approximation and the role played by the charge distributions induced in the disk is shown. The two cases of infinite and finite radius are considered to analyze the influence of edge effects and we obtain a general expression for the braking torque when the magnetic field has axial symmetry. The particular case of a uniform external magnetic field is used to show the working of a simplified model of a cylindrical battery. Analytical results are compared with those obtained by other authors. (C) 1997 American Association of Physics Teachers.