SRI KRISHNA COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

(AN AUTONOM OUS INSTITUTION | AFFILIATED TO ANNA UNIVERSITY | ACCREDITED BY NAAC W ITH “A” GRADE)
ACCREDITED BY NBA(CSE, IT, ECE, EEE, M ECH, M CT & CIVIL)
KUNIAM UTHUR, COIMBATORE, TAM ILNADU, INDIA

SKCET STUDY MATERIAL

Subject Name : APPLIED SCIENCE – 22AS101

Module : lI – MAGNETISM, ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION

AND ALTERNATING CURRENT

TOPIC : MAGNETIC FIELD AROUND A CURRENT CARRYING

CONDUCTOR

BRANCH : I B.E. MCT

02/04/2024 1
Magnetic Force on a Current Carrying Conductor
Consider a current carrying wire of
length l and cross-sectional area A , is placed
in a uniform magnetic field of flux density B
as shown in the figure below
 If n is the number of free charges per
unit volume of a conductor (each having
charge e), then the total charge flowing
through the wire is
q = nAle

Suppose the charges are moving with

drift velocity vd and cover length L in t
seconds, then
 If I is the current flowing through the
conductor, then
 The direction of F will be perpendicular
to the plane of L and B.
If the wire is not straight or field is not
uniform, then we divide the wire into small
elements of length ‟ds”. Then the force on
each segment is written as:
dF = I (ds x B)
Then the force on whole wire is obtained by
integrating over the whole length L
Direction of Magnetic field and Current
The direction of the magnetic field is
perpendicular to the wire.
If you wrap your right
hand’s fingers around the
wire with your thumb
pointing in the direction of
the current, then the
direction in which the
fingers would curl will give
the direction of the
magnetic field.