A thin straight bar magnet has a magnetic moment M . It is bent at its exact midpoint to form a V-shape such that the angle between the two halves is 60^ . The new magnetic moment of the magnet is

Step-by-step solution

Let the initial length of the bar magnet be L and its pole strength be m . The initial magnetic moment is M = m L . When the magnet is bent at its midpoint, each half has a length of L 2 . The angle between the two halves is 60^ . The new effective magnetic length L^ is the shortest straight-line distance between the two poles. The two halves and the line joining the poles form a triangle with two equal sides ( L 2 ) and an included angle of 60^ . This geometry forms an equilateral triangle. Therefore, the distance