Recent content by farglenargle

So, because it reaches that charge distribution, ΔV ≈ 0 (or = 0, in a perfect situation)?

How can a current be generated in the piece of wire (for more than a few moments) if it's not a circuit? A current flowing in a straight, isolated piece of wire implies charges falling out of one end or another, which obviously doesn't actually happen. To clarify my meaning, this is a diagram...

You're right--that was my mistake. But what if the piece of wire was moving perpendicularly away from the current? The magnetic field in the piece of wire would be changing, implying an EMF--right? And if so, is the potential equal across the entire wire?

I just mean theoretically speaking. "Infinitely long". Long enough that its ends don't distort the magnetic field around the other, shorter wire. Obviously there will be a potential difference applied at the FAR AWAY left end and the FAR AWAY right end. I'm talking purely theory here, in the...

A quick question. Let's say you had an infinitely long wire carrying a constant current, and a straight piece of wire parallel to it a certain distance away. Obviously, the current, being a motion of charges, will generate a magnetic field, with its curl being equal to the electrical...