Encyclopedia

Bismuth Coil

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Bismuth Coil

 

a device for measuring magnetic induction whose action is based on the increased electrical resistance of bismuth in a magnetic field. Bismuth coils are made in the form of a flat bifilar (to reduce the induced currents) spiral of chemically pure bismuth wire about 1 mm in diameter. The thinness of the bismuth coil makes it convenient to measure magnetic fields in narrow gaps. The resistance of the bismuth coil is measured twice: outside the field and then in the field being investigated. Magnetic induction is determined according to the change in resistance? R, which is about 5 percent for 10-1 ml (1,000 gauss), and according to the graduated curve of the bismuth coil. The bismuth coil has low accuracy (about 2 percent) and limited sensitivity (—50 gauss = 5 x 10-3 ml), since the resistance of bismuth depends to a great degree on temperature; in addition there is resistance hysteresis in a magnetic field.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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