What Is the Magnetic Field at the Center of a Square Wire Loop?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating the magnetic field at the center of a square wire loop with given dimensions and current. The problem involves applying the Biot-Savart law and understanding the contributions from each side of the loop.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss the application of the Biot-Savart law, with some considering the symmetry of the problem and the contributions from each side of the square loop. Questions arise about the choice of the line element "dl" and its integration limits.

Discussion Status

There is an ongoing exploration of different approaches to the problem, with some participants suggesting simplifications and others cautioning against applying methods suited for infinite wires. Guidance has been offered regarding the integration limits and the correct formulation of the Biot-Savart law in this context.

Contextual Notes

Participants note the importance of considering the symmetry of the square loop and the specific dimensions provided in the problem. There is a discussion about the implications of using an infinite wire approximation versus the actual finite length of the square sides.

rothrock98
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I've been stuck on this problem from a few hours now. It seemed much easier when I started it.

- A square wire loop has sides 2 meters long, with a current 5 amps circulating in the loop. What is the magnetic field at the exact center of the loop?

I was going the direction of the law of Biot and Savart and integrating to get B = u0/4pi * integral( I*dl x r(hat)/r^2)

I just can't seem to get anywhere, any ideas?
 
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rothrock98 said:
I've been stuck on this problem from a few hours now. It seemed much easier when I started it.

- A square wire loop has sides 2 meters long, with a current 5 amps circulating in the loop. What is the magnetic field at the exact center of the loop?

I was going the direction of the law of Biot and Savart and integrating to get B = u0/4pi * integral( I*dl x r(hat)/r^2)

I just can't seem to get anywhere, any ideas?

Apply Biot-Savart-Laplace law correctly,takin into account that this problem admits symmetry.I state that the total magnetic field in the center of the loop is the sum of the 4 equal contributions coming from each side of the square.
The law is first given in the following mathematical formulation by Pierre Simon (Marquis de) Laplace:
[tex]d\vec{B}=\frac{\mu_{0}\mu_{r}I}{4\pi}\frac{d\vec{l}\times\vec{r}}{r^{3}}[/tex]
,where "r" is the distance from the origin (chosen to be the center of the square) to a line element of the conductor "dl".
[tex][/tex]
 
Ok that clears some of it up thanks. Can dl be choosen to be any length?
 
rothrock98 said:
Ok that clears some of it up thanks. Can dl be choosen to be any length?

No,not any.It is chosen as a vector line element along the side of the square with the sense equal to the sense of the current.
Integration by "dl" is made from 0 to "l",where "l" designates the length of the side of the square.
 
You can derive a simpler formula from biot-savart by seeing that in a long straight wire, r = square root of l squared + R squared where l is the lenth of the wire and R is the distance from the wire. Also sin of the angle is R/r. subsituting these in and integrating with respect to s, assuming the wire is of infinite length, you can derive an easy formula to use.
 
so getting B = UoI/2πr for a simpler formula by doing MatSci method. Then substituting in giving values I got (4πx10^-7 * 5) / (2π * 1) = 1 x 10^-6. Take this times 4 for the summation yields 4 x 10^-6 T. This on the right track now? Thanks for all the help!
 
Well actually we reduced biot-savart for an infinitely long wire. We don't want to do this in this problem. So before integrating from 0 to infinite, you want to integrate from -L/2 to L/2 where L is the length of each square side. This comes out to be (mui/2(pie)r) (L/(L^2 + 4R^2)^(1/2)). With the infinite wire, L went to infinite and you could essentially ignore R^2 to receive what you got. But in this case, L equals length of sides and R equals L/2. So the final in the box current is given by B=2mui/(pie)L2^(1/2) where L is the length of each side.
 

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