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I was reading about the tangent galvanometer online. I came across a youtube video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIuAnP9xfxw .

It said that the field produced by the circular coil of the galvanometer is always perpendicular to the horizontal component of Earth's magnetic field at that point. I know how the magnetic field is produced , but I am unable to justify that it must be perpendicular to the horizontal component of Earth's magnetic field at that point. Do we really set up the galvanometer just like that ? If yes, how ? Please help.

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You want to compare the strength of the two fields. If you place the galvanometer so that it's field is at right angles to that of the earth, then the ratio of the two gives the tangent of the angle measured by the compass. (Note that the compass needle is balanced and mounted so that it only responds to the horizontal component of the earth's field.)

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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for the clarification. So practically one needs to set it up the right way such that the ratio would be the tangent of the angle measured. $\endgroup$
    – Aurav S Tomar
    Commented Jul 11, 2020 at 5:59

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