Cylindrical magnets and ideal solenoids

Both wire-wound solenoids and cylindrical magnets can be approximated as ideal azimuthally symmetric solenoids. We present an exact solution for the magnetic field of an ideal solenoid in an easy to use form. The field is expressed in terms of a single function that can be rapidly computed by means of a compact efficient algorithm, which can be coded as an add-in function to a spreadsheet, making field calculations accessible to introductory students. These expressions are not only accurate but are also as fast as most approximate expressions. We demonstrate their utility by simulating the dropping of a cylindrical magnet through a nonmagnetic conducting tube and comparing the calculation with data obtained from experiments suitable for an undergraduate laboratory.