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The drawing shows two long, straight wires that are suspended from a ceiling. The mass per unit length of each wire is 0.050 kg/m. Each of the four strings suspending the wires has a length of 1.2 m. When the wires carry identical currents in opposite directions, the angle between the strings holding the two wires is 15°. What is the current in each wire?

User Aludvigsen
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Final answer:

To find the current in each wire, we need to calculate the tension in the strings and the weight of the wires. We can then use these values to solve for the current using the equation for the magnetic force per unit length.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the current in each wire, we can start by calculating the angle between the wires using the information given. The angle between the strings, 15°, and the length of the suspending strings, 1.2 m, form a right triangle. Therefore, we can use trigonometry to calculate the horizontal component of the force, which is equal to the tension in the strings. Since the wires carry identical currents in opposite directions, the forces on each wire will also be equal.

Now we can use the information about the mass per unit length of the wires to calculate the weight of each wire. The weight can be equated to the tension in the strings by considering the vertical components of the forces. By setting up an equation for the tension in terms of the weight and the angle, we can solve for the tension in the wires.

Finally, with the information about the tension and the length of the wires, we can solve for the current in each wire using the equation for the magnetic force per unit length, which is given by F = BIℓ.

User Jason Coyne
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