Question

A straight 1.0 m long wire is carrying a current. the wire is placed perpendicular to a magnetic field of strength 0.20 t. if the wire experiences a force of 0.60 n, what is the current in the wire?

Answer 1

A current carrying wire placed perpendicular to a magnetic field experiences a force equal to

`F=ILB`
where
I is the current in the wire
L is the wire length
B is the intensity of the magnetic field

In our problem, the length of the wire is L=1.0 m, the magnetic field strength is B=0.20 T and the force exerted on the wire is F=0.60 N. If we re-arrange the equation and we plug these numbers into it, we find the current in the wire:

`I= (F)/(LB)= (0.60 N)/((1.0 m)(0.20 T))=3 A`