Question

When an electric current is flowing through a wire, the force deflecting the charged particles is the greatest when the wire is what to the magnetic field?

Answer 1

C.) perpendicular

Step-by-step explanation:

A particle with an electric charge experiences the maximum deflecting force when it is positioned perpendicular to the magnetic field.

Answer 2

The force is greatest when the wire is perpendicular to the magnetic field.

In fact, the expression for the magnetic force is

`F=ILB \sin \theta`
where I is the current, L the length of the wire, B the magnetic field intensity and
`\theta` is the angle between the directions of I and B.

We can see that F is maximum when
`\sin \theta=1`, so when
`\theta = 90^(\circ)`, so when the wire and the magnetic field are perpendicular to each other.