Question

Two long parallel wires, each carrying a current of 2 A, lie a distance 25 cm from each other. If the distance between the wires is tripled, (a) by what multiplicative factor is the force per unit length changed?

Answer 1

the force will become 1/3 times the initial force

Step-by-step explanation:

As we know that force between two current carrying wires is given by the formula

`F = (\mu_0 i_1 i_2 L)/(2\pi d)`

here we know that

`i_1, i_2` = currents flowing in two wires

L = length of the wire on which force is to be calculated

d = distance between two wires

now let say the distance between the wires is "d"

so the force between the wires will F1

`F_1 = (\mu_0 i_1 i_2 L)/(2\pi d)`

now the distance is increased by factor of 3

so the force between the wires is given as

`F_2 = (\mu_0 i_1 i_2 L)/(2\pi (3d))`

so here we can say that the new force between two wires is decreased by factor of 3

so the force will become 1/3 times the initial force