Question

Currents during lightning strikes can be up to 50000 A (or more!). We can model such a strike as a 47500 A vertical current perpendicular to the earth's magnetic field, which is about 12 gauss.

a. What is the force on each meter of this current due to the earth's magnetic field?

Answer 1

57 N

Step-by-step explanation:

Force on a current carrying conductor in a magnetic field

B = 12 X 10⁻⁴ T

= Bil where B is magnetic field , i is current and l is length of conductor

force required = 12 x10⁻⁴ x 47500 x 1

= 57 N