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I have seen a few threads on this already on the website,but the explanations kind of confused me. I know that this rule is used to predict the direction of a magnetic force. However this approach just seems so random to me. How come when we just orient the fingers on our right hand or left hand, we can "magically" predict the direction of a magnetic force and why do magnetic forces orient themselves in such a way. Also, though magnetic force is a cross product of 2 vectors, and the cross product produces a vector perpendicular to the other two, how do we know and why is the magnetic force is indeed perpendicular to the other two vectors. I get the convention part. For example the positive x direction is to the right and the negative x direction is to left, this aspect all just a matter of convention and can be done differently. However my question is WHY the left hand or right hand rule can be used to predict the direction of a magnetic forces and why magnetic forces orient themselves in such a way. I don't understand why when arrange your fingers in a certain orientation, you are able to predict the direction of a magnetic field. Your fingers don't know anything about magnetic fields. For me, using the rule hand rule is not logical and not a scientific way of predicting the magnetic field, if there was a scientific approach for predicting the magnetic field i would understand this concept of magnetism. I need to know the science and intuition of behind why certain things happen. For example, why is 250 x245=61250. Though there are certain techniques for multiplying large numbers fast, the basic principle is that if you add 250, 245 times you get 61250. This explanation of why 250 X 245 =61250 is a logical way of obtaining this solution. However, i don't get the intuition behind the right or left hand rule. How do we know and why is the direction of a magnetic force the same as a certain arrangement of fingers. Also, though a cross product gives a vector that is perpendicular to other 2 vectors how do we know and why is that the magnetic force is perpendicular to two vectors? The only answer I could come up with to these two questions is because of experimental research and observation we can confirm that magnetic forces orient themselves in the same manner as the way we orient our right or left hands. I don't have any answer though to why magnetic forces orient themselves in such a way and why they are perpendicular to other vectors.