Magnetic Field Due to

Currents
Biot–Savart law

𝜇0 =permeability constant
 Magnetic Field Due to a
Current in a Long Straight
Wire
Rules for finding direction of B field from a current flowing in
a wire

oi
B
2r
 Force between two current carrying wires
Find the force due to the current element of the first wire and the magnetic
field of the second wire. Integrate over the length of both wires. This will give
the force between the two wires.
iaib 0
Fba  L
2d
iaib 0
Fba /L 
2d

 0ia
Ba  
2d
LB and directed towards
Fba  ib L x Ba wire a (wires are attracted).
0ia
 ibL
2d
 Ampere’s Law
Allows us to solve certain highly symmetric current problems for the
magnetic field as Gauss’ Law did in electrostatics.

  Current enclosed by the path

Ampere’s Law is
 B  dl   0 Ic
Magnetic Field Outside a
Long Straight Wire with
Current
Magnetic Field Inside a Long
Straight Wire with Current
Solenoid

B  0ni
n is the number of turns per meter
 Toroid

 
 B  dl   0 IC
 Bdl   0 Ni

B 2r   0 Ni

 0 Ni N is the total
a B
2r number of turns

b dl
1. The wire in Fig. P1 carries a current 𝑖 and consists of a
circular arc of radius 𝑅 and central angle 𝜋Τ2 𝑟𝑎𝑑, and two
straight sections whose extensions intersect the center 𝐶 of
the arc. What magnetic field (magnitude and direction) does
the current produce at 𝐶?
2. Figure P2 shows two long parallel wires carrying
currents 𝑖1 and 𝑖2 in opposite directions. What are
the magnitude and direction of the net magnetic
field at point P? Assume the following values: 𝑖1 =
15 𝐴, 𝑖2 = 32 𝐴, and 𝑑 = 5.3 𝑐𝑚.
3. Two long straight wires are as oriented so that they are
perpendicular to each other as shown in Figure. At their
closest distance they are 20 cm apart. The top wire carries a
current 𝐼𝑡 = 20.0𝐴 which is out of the page (direction of x) and
the bottom wire caries 𝐼𝑏 = 5.0𝐴 towards the right.
(a) Calculate the net magnetic field at
the point p in unit vector notation due
to current in both the wires.
(b)If an electron is moving with a
velocity 𝑣Ԧ = 453𝑚/𝑠 𝑗Ƹ , find out the
magnitude and direction of the
magnetic force acting on the electron
at point p.
4. Two infinitely long straight wires are separated by a
distance 𝑑 = 22𝑐𝑚 are carrying currents in the same
direction. Current in wire 1 is 2.5 𝑎𝑚𝑝 and current in wire 2 is
5.5 𝑎𝑚𝑝.

(a) Find the magnitude and direction of the net

magnetic field half-way between the wires.
(b) Calculate the magnitude and direction of the
force on 1m long section of wire 1 due to the current
in wire 2.
(c) Will wire 1 and wire 2 attract or repel each
other?
5. In Fig. , two semicircular arcs have radii 𝑅2 =
7.80 𝑐𝑚 and 𝑅1 = 3.15 𝑐𝑚 , carry current 𝑖 =
0.281 𝐴, and share the same center of curvature C.
What are the (a) magnitude and (b) direction (into
or out of the page) of the net magnetic field at C?
6. Figure shows two very long straight wires (in
cross section) that each carry a current of 4.00 𝐴
directly out of the page. Distance 𝑑1 = 6.00 𝑚 and
distance 𝑑2 = 4.00 𝑚. What is the magnitude of the
net magnetic field at point P, which lies on a
perpendicular bisector to the wires?
7. In Fig., four long straight wires are perpendicular to the
page, and their cross sections form a square of edge length
𝑎 = 20 𝑐𝑚. The currents are out of the page in wires 1 and 4
and into the page in wires 2 and 3, and each wire carries
20 𝐴. In unit-vector notation, what is the net magnetic field at
the square’s center?
8. Figure shows wire 1 in cross section; the wire is long and
straight, carries a current of 4.00 𝑚𝐴 out of the page, and is at
distance 𝑑1 = 2.40 𝑐𝑚 from a surface. Wire 2, which is parallel
to wire 1 and also long, is at horizontal distance 𝑑2 = 5.00 𝑐𝑚
from wire 1 and carries a current of 6.80 𝑚𝐴 into the page.
What is the x component of the magnetic force per unit length
on wire 2 due to wire 1?
9. In Fig., two long straight wires are perpendicular to the
page and separated by distance 𝑑1 = 0.75 𝑐𝑚. Wire 1 carries
6.5 𝐴 into the page. What are the (a) magnitude and (b)
direction (into or out of the page) of the current in wire 2 if
the net magnetic field due to the two currents is zero at
point P located at distance 𝑑2 = 1.50 𝑐𝑚 from wire 2?