Question

What happens to the force acting on current carrying conductor placed in magnetic field when:
(a) Direction of magnetic field is reversed without changing the direction of current.
(b) Direction of the current is reversed without changing the direction of magnetic field.
(c) Direction of both the current and the magnetic field is reversed.​

Answer 1

Answer:

The Force's direction in  (a) is reversed, (b) is reversed, (c) remains the same.

Explanation:

• A force is experienced by a conductor having a current when it is placed in a magnetic field.
• The force's direction depends on the magnetic field's direction.
• The magnitude of the force depends on the conductor's length.

The formula for the force acting on the conductor is:

$F=I*L*B*sin\alpha$

where, $I$ is the current.

            $L$ is the length.

            $B$ is the magnetic field.

            $\alpha$ is the angle between the magnetic field and current.

The cross product of $I$ and $B$ gives force's direction.

Solution part(a)

If the direction of the magnetic field is reversed then the force's direction is also reversed.

Solution part(b)

If the direction of current is reversed then the force's direction is also reversed.

Solution part(c)

If the direction of the magnetic field and current are both reversed then the force's direction would not change.