Path of least resistence, static wire in B field or moveable wire?

[Matus1976]

I was curious, if the same voltage was applied to two conductors, I guess wired in parallel, and both passed through a magnetic field at a right angle to the field, and one was refrained from moving, while the other was allowed to move - which path would the electrical current travel?

 

[vk6kro]

Good question.

I guess this is like a motor that is turning compared with one that cannot turn.

The one that turns generates a back EMF which opposes the flow of current, while the one that cannot turn just behaves like an inductor and draws more current.

So, the one that moves would draw slightly less current than the one that can't move because the one that can move will generate a back EMF.

This gets complicated if you put them in parallel, though.