For a circular coil of radius R and N turns carrying current I, the magnitude of the magnetic field at a point on its axis at a distance x from its centre is given by,

(a) Show that this reduces to the familiar result for field at the centre of the coil.

(b) Consider two parallel co-axial circular coils of equal radius R, and number of turns N, carrying equal currents in the same direction, and separated by a distance R. Show that the field on the axis around the mid-point between the coils is uniform over a distance that is small as compared to R, and is given by,

, approximately.

[Such an arrangement to produce a nearly uniform magnetic field over a small region is known as Helmholtz coils.]