Question

A straight wire is carrying a current of 2.0 A. It is placed at an angle of 60 with respect to a magnetic field of strength 0.20 T. if the wire experiences a force of 0.40 N, what is the length wire?

Answer 1

In order to determine the length of the wire, use the following formula for the force exterded on a wire in a magnetic field:

`F=I\cdot L\cdot B\cdot\sin \theta`

where,

I: current through the wire = 2.0A

L: length of the wire = ?

B: strength of magnetic field = 0.20T

θ: angle between the axis of the wire and the direction of B = 60 degrees

F: force = 0.40N

Solve the equation above for L, replace the values of the other parameters and simplify:

`\begin{gathered} L=(F)/(I\cdot B\cdot\sin \theta) \\ L=(0.40N)/((2.0A)(0.20T)\sin 60) \\ L\approx1.15m \end{gathered}`

Hence, the length of the wire is approximately 1.15m