Fundamentals Physics

Eleventh Edition

Halliday

Chapter 29
Magnetic Fields due to Currents
29-1 Magnetic Field due to a Current (1 of 8)
Learning Objectives
29.01 Sketch a current-length element in a wire and
indicate the direction of the magnetic field that it
sets up at a given point near the wire.
29.02 For a given point near a wire and a given current-
element in the wire, determine the magnitude and
direction of the magnetic field due to that element.
29.03 Identify the magnitude of the magnetic field set up
by a current-length element at a point in line with
the direction of that element.
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29-1 Magnetic Field due to a Current (2 of 8)
29.04 For a point to one side of a long straight wire
carrying current, apply the relationship between the
magnetic field magnitude, the current, and the
distance to the point.
29.05 For a point to one side of a long straight wire
carrying current, use a right-hand rule to determine
the direction of the magnetic field vector.
29.06 Identify that around a long straight wire carrying
current, the magnetic field lines form circles.

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29-1 Magnetic Field due to a Current (3 of 8)
29.07 For a point to one side of the end of a semi-infinite
wire carrying current, apply the relationship
between the magnetic field magnitude, the current,
and the distance to the point.
29.08 For the center of curvature of a circular arc of wire
carrying current, apply the relationship between the
magnetic field magnitude, the current, the radius of
curvature, and the angle subtended by the arc (in
radians).

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29-1 Magnetic Field due to a Current (4 of 8)
29.09 For a point to one side of a short straight wire
carrying current, integrate the Biot–Savart law to
find the magnetic field set up at the point by the
current.

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29-1 Magnetic Field due to a Current (5 of 8)
The magnitude of the field dB produced at point P
at distance r by a current-length element ds turns
out to be
0 i ds sin 
dB  ,
4 r 2

where  is the angle between the directions of ds and rˆ,

a unit vector that points from ds toward P. Symbol 0
is a constant, called the permeability constant, whose
value is defined to be exactly
0  4  107 T  m/A  1.26  106 T  m/A.

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29-1 Magnetic Field due to a Current (6 of 8)
The direction of d B, shown as being into the page in the
figure, is that of the cross product ds  rˆ. We can therefore
write the above equation containing dB in vector form as
0 i ds  rˆ
dB 
4 r 2
This vector equation and its scalar form are known as the
law of Biot and Savart.

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29-1 Magnetic Field due to a Current (7 of 8)
For a long straight wire carrying a
current i, the Biot–Savart law gives,
for the magnitude of the magnetic
field at a perpendicular distance R
from the wire,
 0i
B
2 R
Figure: The magnetic field lines
produced by a current in along
straight wire form concentric circles
around the wire. Here the current is
into the page, as indicated by the ×.
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29-1 Magnetic Field due to a Current (8 of 8)
Curled–straight right-hand rule: Grasp
the element in your right hand with your
extended thumb pointing in the direction
of the current. Your fingers will then
naturally curl around in the direction of
the magnetic field lines due to that
element.
The magnitude of the magnetic
field at the center of a circular
arc, of radius R and central angle 
(in radians), carrying current i, is
0i
B
4 R
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29-2 Force Between Two Parallel
Currents (1 of 4)
Learning Objectives
29.10 Given two parallel or anti-parallel currents, find the
magnetic field of the first current at the location of
the second current and then find the resulting force
acting on that second current.
29.11 Identify that parallel currents attract each other, and
anti-parallel currents repel each other.
29.12 Describe how a rail gun works.

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29-2 Force Between Two Parallel
Currents (2 of 4)
Parallel wires carrying currents in the same direction
attract each other, whereas parallel wires carrying currents
in opposite directions repel each other. The magnitude of
the force on a length L of either wire is

0 Liaib
Fba  ib LBa sin 90° = ,
2 d

where d is the wire separation, and ia and ib are the

currents in the wires.
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29-2 Force Between Two Parallel
Currents (3 of 4)
The general procedure for finding the force on a current-
carrying wire is this:

To find the force on a current-carrying wire due to a

second current-carrying wire, first find the field due to the
second wire at the site of the first wire. Then find the force
on the first wire due to that field.

Similarly, if the two currents were anti-parallel, we could

show that the two wires repel each other.

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29-2 Force Between Two Parallel
Currents (4 of 4)

A rail gun, as a current i is

Two parallel wires carrying set up in it. The current
cur-rents in the same rapidly causes the conducting
direction attract each other. fuse to vaporize.
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29-3 Ampere’s Law (1 of 5)
Learning Objectives
29.13 Apply Ampere’s law to a loop that encircles
current.
29.14 With Ampere’s law, use a right-hand rule for
determining the algebraic sign of an encircled
current.
29.15 For more than one current within an Amperian
loop, determine the net current to be used in
Ampere’s law.

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29-3 Ampere’s Law (2 of 5)
29.16 Apply Ampere’s law to a long straight wire with
current, to find the magnetic field magnitude inside
and outside the wire, identifying that only the
current encircled by the Amperian loop matters.

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29-3 Ampere’s Law (3 of 5)
Ampere’s law states that

 B  ds   i 0 enc

The line integral in this equation is evaluated around a

closed loop called an Amperian loop. The current i on the
right side is the net current encircled by the loop

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29-3 Ampere’s Law (4 of 5)
Curl your right hand around the Amperian loop, with the
fingers pointing in the direction of integration. A current
through the loop in the general direction of your
outstretched thumb is assigned a plus sign, and a current
generally in the opposite direction is assigned a minus
sign.
Magnetic Fields of a long straight wire with current:
 0i
B  outside straigth wire .
2 r
  0i 
B 2 
r  inside straight wire .
 2 R 
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29-3 Ampere’s Law (5 of 5)

Ampere’s law applied to an

arbitrary Amperian loop that A right-hand rule for Ampere’s
encircles two long straight wires law, to determine the signs for
but excludes a third wire. Note currents encircled by an
the directions of the currents. Amperian loop.
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29-4 Solenoids and Toroids (1 of 8)
Learning Objectives
29.17 Describe a solenoid and a toroid and sketch their
magnetic field lines.
29.18 Explain how Ampere’s law is used to find the
magnetic field inside a solenoid.
29.19 Apply the relationship between a solenoid’s
internal magnetic field B, the current i, and the
number of turns per unit length n of the solenoid.

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29-4 Solenoids and Toroids (2 of 8)
29.20 Explain how Ampere’s law is used to find the
magnetic field inside a toroid.
29.21 Apply the relationship between a toroid’s internal
magnetic field B, the current i, the radius r, and the
total number of turns N.

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29-4 Solenoids and Toroids (3 of 8)
Magnetic Field of a Solenoid
Figure (a) is a solenoid carrying current i.

(a)
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29-4 Solenoids and Toroids (4 of 8)
Figure (b) shows a section through a portion of a “stretched-out”
solenoid. The solenoid’s magnetic field is the vector sum of the fields
produced by the individual turns (windings) that make up the solenoid.
For points very close to a turn, the wire behaves magnetically almost like
a long straight wire, and the lines of B there are almost concentric circles.
Figure (b) suggests that the field tends to cancel between adjacent turns.
It also suggests that, at points inside the solenoid and reasonably far from
the wire, B is approximately parallel to the (central) solenoid axis.

(b)
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29-4 Solenoids and Toroids (5 of 8)
Magnetic Field of a Solenoid
Let us now apply Ampere’s law,
 B  ds   i 0 enc ,

to the ideal solenoid of Fig. (a), where B

is uniform within the solenoid and zero
outside it, using the rectangular Amperian (a)
loop abcda. We write  B  ds
as the sum of four integrals, one for each loop
segment:
b c d b
 B  ds  
a
B  ds   B  ds   B  ds   B  ds .
b c a

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29-4 Solenoids and Toroids (6 of 8)
The first integral on the right of equation is Bh, where B is the
magnitude of the uniform field B inside the solenoid and h is the
(arbitrary) length of the segment from a to b. The second and fourth
integrals are zero because for every element ds of these segments,
B either is perpendicular to ds or is zero, and thus the product
B  ds is zero. The third integral, which is taken along a segment
that lies outside the solenoid, is zero because B = 0 at all external
points. Thus,  B  ds for the entire rectangular loop has the value
Bh.
Inside a long solenoid carrying current i, at points not near its ends,
the magnitude B of the magnetic field is
B  0in  ideal solenoid .
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29-4 Solenoids and Toroids (7 of 8)
Magnetic Field of a Toroid
Figure (a) shows a toroid, which we may describe
as a (hollow) solenoid that has been curved until
its two ends meet, forming a sort of hollow
bracelet. What magnetic field B is set up inside
the toroid (inside the hollow of the bracelet)? We
can find out from Ampere’s law and the
symmetry of the bracelet. From the symmetry, we
see that the lines of B form concentric circles
inside the toroid, directed as shown in Fig. (b).
Let us choose a concentric circle of radius r as an
Amperian loop and traverse it in the clockwise
direction. Ampere’s law yields
 B  2 r   0iN ,
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29-4 Solenoids and Toroids (8 of 8)
where i is the current in the toroid windings (and is
positive for those windings enclosed by the Amperian
loop) and N is the total number of turns. This gives
0iN 1
B  toroid .
2 r

In contrast to the situation for a solenoid, B is not

constant over the cross section of a toroid.

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29-5 A Current-Carrying Coil as a
Magnetic Dipole (1 of 4)
Learning Objectives
29.22 Sketch the magnetic field lines of a flat coil that is
carrying current.
29.23 For a current-carrying coil, apply the relationship
between the dipole moment magnitude  and the
coil’s current i, number of turns N, and area per
turn A.
29.24 For a point along the central axis, apply the
relationship between the magnetic field
magnitude B, the magnetic moment  , and the
distance z from the center of the coil.
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29-5 A Current-Carrying Coil as a
Magnetic Dipole (2 of 4)
The magnetic field produced by a current-carrying coil,
which is a magnetic dipole, at a point P located a distance
z along the coil’s perpendicular central axis is parallel to
the axis and is given by
0 
B z   current-carrying coil .
2 z 3

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29-5 A Current-Carrying Coil as a
Magnetic Dipole (3 of 4)

Here  is the dipole moment of the coil. This equation

applies only when z is much greater than the dimensions
of the coil.

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29-5 A Current-Carrying Coil as a
Magnetic Dipole (4 of 4)
We have two ways in which we can regard a current-carrying
coil as a magnetic dipole:
1. It experiences a torque when we place it in an external
magnetic field.
2. It generates its own intrinsic magnetic field, given, for
distant points along its axis, by the above equation. Figure
shows the magnetic field of a current loop; one side of the
loop acts as a north pole (in the direction of  )

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Summary (1 of 5)
The Biot-Savart Law
• The magnetic field set up by a current- carrying
conductor can be found from the Biot–Savart law.
0 ids  rˆ
dB  2
Equation (29-3)
4 r
• The quantity 0 , called the permeability constant, has
the value

4  107 T  m/A  1.26  10 6 T  m/A.

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Summary (2 of 5)
Magnetic Field of a Long Straight Wire
• For a long straight wire carrying a current i, the Biot–
Savart law gives,
 0i
B Equation (29-4)
2 R
Magnetic Field of a Circular Arc
• The magnitude of the magnetic field at the center of a
circular arc,
0i
B Equation (29-9)
4 R
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Summary (3 of 5)
Force Between Parallel Currents
• The magnitude of the force on a length L of either wire
is
0 Liaib
Fba  ib LBa sin 90° = Equation (29-13)
2 d

Ampere’s Law
• Ampere’s law states that,
ur r
òÑB ×ds = m0ienc Equation (29-14)

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Summary (4 of 5)
Fields of a Solenoid and a Toroid
• Inside a long solenoid carrying current i, at points not
near its ends, the magnitude B of the magnetic field is
B  0in Equation (29-23)

• At a point inside a toroid, the magnitude B of the

magnetic field is

0iN 1
B
2 r Equation (29-24)

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Summary (5 of 5)
Field of a Magnetic Dipole
• The magnetic field produced by a current-carrying coil,
which is a magnetic dipole, at a point P located a
distance z along the coil’s perpendicular central axis is
parallel to the axis and is given by
0 
B z  Equation (29-9)
2 z 3

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