Question

A long wire carrying a 5.0 A current perpendicular to the xy-plane intersects the x-axis at x= -2.0cm. A second, parallel wire carrying a 2.5 A current intersects the x-axis at x=2.0cm. At what point on the x-axis is the magnetic field zero if the two currents are in the same direction?

Answer 1

The magnetic field will be zero at the point x = 1.0 m.

Step-by-step explanation:

The magnetic field produced by a long wire carrying a current is given by the equation B = ΔxI/(2πr), where Δx is the perpendicular distance from the wire to the point of interest, I is the current, and r is the distance from the wire. In this case, we can calculate the magnetic field produced by each wire at the point x = 1.0 m using the given equation. Since the two wires have opposite currents but are in the same direction, their magnetic fields cancel each other out when they have the same magnitude. Therefore, the magnetic field will be zero at the point x = 1.0 m.