13.

3 FORCE ON A CURRENT-CARRYING
CONDUCTOR IN A MAGNETIC FIELD:

 Introduction:

 An electric current flowing through a conductor produces a

magnetic field. The field so produced exerts a force on a
magnet placed in the vicinity of the conductor.
 French scientist Andre Marie Ampere (1775–1836) suggested
that the magnet must also exert an equal and opposite force on
the current-carrying conductor.

 Force on a current carrying conductor in a magnetic field :

 Ampere suggested that when a current I passes through a

conductor of length l placed in a perpendicular magnetic field
B, then the force experienced is given by F = IBl sin q, where q
is the angle between the length of the conductor and magnetic
field.

 Assertion:

 A current carrying conductor placed in a magnetic field

experiences a force.

 Explanation:

 When a current-carrying conductor AB is placed perpendicular

to the magnetic field B generated by a horseshoe magnet, the
conductor gets displaced. This happens due to the magnetic
force acting on the conductor.
  Proof through activity:

Aim:
To show that a current carrying wire experiences a force when placed in a
magnetic field.

Experimental Setup:
1. A conductor PQ is suspended horizontally from a stand.
2. A horse shoe magnet is placed in such a way that rod lies between that two poles
a magnet.
3. Conductor is connected with the battery and the key.

Observations:
1. On closing the key, the conductor gets displaced towards right.
2. On reversing the direction of current, the conductor gets displaced towards left.
3. On changing the polarity of horse shoe magnet, the direction of force acting on
the current carrying conductor gets reversed.
4. When current carrying conductor is placed perpendicular to the direction of
magnetic field, the maximum displacement occurs indicating the maximum force
on the conductor.
5. On placing the conductor parallel to the direction of magnetic field no
displacement is noticed.

Conclusion:
The displacement of the conductor shows that it experiences some force when it
carries some current and is placed in a magnetic field. This verifies the existence of
a force on the conductor.
 What are the factors that the magnitude of the force exerted on a
current-carrying conductor depends on?

 Experimentally, the force acting on a current-carrying

conductor has been found to be directly dependent on:
 Current through the wire (I)
 Length of the conductor (l)
 Magnetic field (B)
So, the force experienced by a conductor of length l placed in a
magnetic field B carrying a current I is given by,
F=IBl
 This force is experienced by the conductor due to the
interaction of the magnetic field generated by the current with
the external magnetic field.
 On interchanging the poles of the magnet or reversing the
direction of the current, the displacement of the conductor gets
reversed. It indicates that the direction of the force on the
conductor depends upon the direction of the current and the
direction of the magnetic field.

 Cause of Force on the current carrying conductor:

 Force on the current carrying conductor is due to the interaction

between magnetic field due to current and external magnetic field.

 Magnitude of the force increase when:

1. Strength of current increases.

2. External magnetic field strength increases.
3.Length of conductor increases.

 Maximum and minimum force:

 Force is maximum when the conductor is perpendicular to the

magnetic field and minimum (zero ) when conductor is parallel to
the magnetic field.
 The direction of force is given by Fleming’s left hand rule.
 Simple rule:

 If the direction of the field and that of current are mutually

perpendicular to each other, then the force acting on the
conductor will be perpendicular to both and that can be
determined using the Fleming’s left-hand rule.

 Fleming’s Left-Hand Rule:

 The direction of the force experienced by a current-carrying

conductor placed in a magnetic field can be determined by
Fleming’s Left-Hand Rule.
 According to this rule, if the thumb, forefinger, and central
finger of the left hand are stretched such that they are mutually
perpendicular to each other, then the forefinger indicates the
direction of the magnetic field, the central finger will indicate
the direction of current, and the thumb will indicate the
direction of motion or the force acting on the conductor.
 SI unit of magnetic field is tesla (T):

 One tesla is that magnetic field in which a charge of one

coulomb moving with a velocity of 1 m/s perpendicular to the
magnetic field experiences a force of one newton.

 Applications on devices:

 Devices that use current-carrying conductors and magnetic

fields include electric motor, electric generator, loudspeakers,
microphones and measuring instruments.
 Many devices such as electric motor, electric generator,
loudspeaker etc. work on Fleming’s left Hand rule.

 Question:

 Magnetism in medicine:

 An electric current always produces a magnetic field. Even

weak ion currents that travel along the nerve cells in our body
produce magnetic fields. When we touch something, our nerves
carry an electric impulse to the muscles we need to use. This
impulse produces a temporary magnetic field. These fields are
very weak and are about one-billionth of the earth’s magnetic
field. Two main organs in the human body where the magnetic
field produced is significant, are the heart and the brain. The
magnetic field inside the body forms the basis of obtaining the
images of different body parts. This is done using a technique
called Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Analysis of these
images helps in medical diagnosis. Magnetism has, thus, got
important uses in medicine.