Two current carrying wires perpendicular to each other

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
1 reply · 5K views
iacyclones25
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
two long wires carry current and are at right angles to each other, but they do not touch. describe the force between them

I found the magnetic field and force direction individually when one wire's current points north and the other east. I just don't quite understand the affect they have on each other. It's a concept problem. I understand the force on each other in parallel.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
You just have to do [tex]v \times B[/tex] (v cross B) to find the directions. Draw the cross, and look at the direction of the forces on each wire on both sides of the crossing wire (e.g. 4 points in a diamond with the crossing point at the center).

Does that make sense? Or help at all?