User:Brian P. Josey/Notebook/2010/12/20: Difference between revisions
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== | ==Helmholtz Coils== | ||
Like I noted in my notebook [User:Brian P. Josey/Notebook/2010/11/30| a few weeks ago], I've started working with Andy to find some small projects and get some fresh perspective on my ferritin project. One thing that we've talked about, was using microcontrollers to create something useful for the lab. Andy offered up creating a device that moves the microscope's stage more precisely, which would be fairly simple. Another idea that I offered up was creating a micro-injector, which could potentially be cheaper than buying one, but it is fairly complicated. For a usable micro-injector you need to be able to move the needle, and supply a pressure to inject whatever you're putting inside of a cell. While simple to understand, there are quite a few engineering problems. | |||
Going back and forth over this, we moved on to designs of electromagnets that I could use for my experiment. There are a couple of things that I want from an electromagnet: to know where it is with respect to the focal plane; how powerful its magnetic field is; and control over as many variables as possible. We talked about putting a curled up wire into a flow cell, but Andy pointed out that flow cells are only ~100 microns thick, and my electromagnet would be thicker. Placing it to the outside of the flow cell, but I don't like this because it would cause problems with knowing the distance between the ferritin and magnet, introducing more variable than necessary. Then I thought about putting a coil of wire with current flowing through it on top of the flow cell opposite of the objective, but the magnetic field would be pointing towards (or away from) the objective, making measurements impossible. Then I thought of just creating a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmholtz_coil Helmholtz coil], which is basically a solenoid with the middle cut out of it. | |||
My idea was to place one of each ring around the flow cell so that they were centered on the objective's focal plane. This would make it so that the magnetic field is pointing perpendicular to the objective, but still within the focal plane. This way I can see and measure any movement in the direction of the magnetic field, and the force. The only problem is, and I just thought of this when I sat down to type up this section, is that Helmholtz coils a perfect for making nearly uniform magnetic fields. The force acting on a dipole is proportional to the gradient of the magnetic field. I think I know of an answer to this, but hold on I'll post it soon. | |||
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Helmholtz CoilsLike I noted in my notebook [User:Brian P. Josey/Notebook/2010/11/30| a few weeks ago], I've started working with Andy to find some small projects and get some fresh perspective on my ferritin project. One thing that we've talked about, was using microcontrollers to create something useful for the lab. Andy offered up creating a device that moves the microscope's stage more precisely, which would be fairly simple. Another idea that I offered up was creating a micro-injector, which could potentially be cheaper than buying one, but it is fairly complicated. For a usable micro-injector you need to be able to move the needle, and supply a pressure to inject whatever you're putting inside of a cell. While simple to understand, there are quite a few engineering problems. Going back and forth over this, we moved on to designs of electromagnets that I could use for my experiment. There are a couple of things that I want from an electromagnet: to know where it is with respect to the focal plane; how powerful its magnetic field is; and control over as many variables as possible. We talked about putting a curled up wire into a flow cell, but Andy pointed out that flow cells are only ~100 microns thick, and my electromagnet would be thicker. Placing it to the outside of the flow cell, but I don't like this because it would cause problems with knowing the distance between the ferritin and magnet, introducing more variable than necessary. Then I thought about putting a coil of wire with current flowing through it on top of the flow cell opposite of the objective, but the magnetic field would be pointing towards (or away from) the objective, making measurements impossible. Then I thought of just creating a Helmholtz coil, which is basically a solenoid with the middle cut out of it. My idea was to place one of each ring around the flow cell so that they were centered on the objective's focal plane. This would make it so that the magnetic field is pointing perpendicular to the objective, but still within the focal plane. This way I can see and measure any movement in the direction of the magnetic field, and the force. The only problem is, and I just thought of this when I sat down to type up this section, is that Helmholtz coils a perfect for making nearly uniform magnetic fields. The force acting on a dipole is proportional to the gradient of the magnetic field. I think I know of an answer to this, but hold on I'll post it soon. | |
