Pîrî Reis University

Spring 2019

Physics 121Y

Lecture 8
 Programme
Week Chapters Subjects

1-2 Ch.21 Electric Charge & Field E-charge, insulators, conductors, Coulomb’s law, E-field

3 Ch.23 Electric Potential E-potential energy, potential difference, charge distribution

4 C.24 Capacitance, Dielectrics Capacitors, capacitance, E-energy storage, dielectrics

5 C.25 Electric Currents & Res. Batteries, E-current, Ohm’s law, power, current density
EMF, resistors in series/parallel, Kirchhoff’s rules, RC
6 Ch.26 DC Circuits
circ’s
7 Review of Chs. 21-26 .

8 Midterm .

9 Ch.27 Magnetism Magnets, magnetic fields

10 Force on an E-current in a M-field, M-field due to a wire

Ch.28 Sources of
Magnetic Field
11 Ampère’s law, Biot-Savart law

12 C.29 EM Ind. & Faraday’s law Induced EMF, Faraday’s law, moving conductors

C.30 Inductance & AC

13 Inductance, magnetic energy, EM oscillations, AC circuits
Circuits
14 Review of Chs. 27-30 .
 Chapter 28
Sources of Magnetic Field
I. Magnetic Field due to a Straight Wire
II. Forces between Two Parallel Wires
III. Definition of the Ampere and the Coulomb
IV. Ampère’s Law
V. Magnetic Field of a Solenoid and a Toroid
VI. Biot-Savart Law

In the last Lecture, we saw that electric currents create magnetic fields. In this
Lecture, we will see in detail how the strength of the magnetic field due to
an electric current is calculated, and the general physical law relating
magnetic field and the electric current that creates it.
I. Magnetic Field due to a Straight Wire
In last Lecture, we saw that a current-carrying straight wire produces a magnetic field
such that the magnetic field lines are circles with the wire at the center. The direction
of the magnetic field can be found by a right-hand rule.

It is experimentally found that the magnitude B of the magnetic field is directly

proportional to the current I in the wire, and inversely proportional to the
perpendicular distance r to the wire (if the wire length is much larger than r ): B ~ I/r.
The constant of proportionality is μ0/2π , thus

Here, μ0 = 4π × 10–7 T·m/A is called the permeability of free space.

I. Magnetic Field due to a Straight Wire
Example (magnetic field midway between two currents): Two parallel straight wires
10.0 cm apart carry currents I1 = 5.0 A and I2 = 7.0 A in opposite directions. Find the
magnitude and direction of the magnetic field halfway between the two wires?
Let us suppose that I1 is towards out of the
page and I2 is into the page, as shown in the
figure. The directions of the magnetic fields
B1 and B2 created by the currents can be
found by the right-hand rule, and are as
shown in the figure. Note that both magnetic
fields have the same direction (upwards) at
the midway point between the wires.

Total magnetic field is the sum (superposition) of individual magnetic fields:

II. Force between Two Parallel Wires
So, a current-carrying wire creates a magnetic field. Also recall
from last Lecture that a current-carrying wire feels a force when
placed in a magnetic field. Thus, current-carrying wires exert
forces on each other.
In the figure, magnetic field lines due to current I1 is shown.
Magnitude of this magnetic field at a distance d is (see Section I)

When another wire (parallel to the first one carrying a current I2 ) is

placed in this magnetic field, it will feel a force, whose magnitude is

for the length l2 of the second wire (see Lecture 7).

II. Force between Two Parallel Wires
This is the force that first wire exerts on the second.
By Newton’s 3rd law, the same force is exerted by
the second wire on the first one.

The right-hand rule introduced in the previous section dictates

that wires carrying parallel currents (in same direction) attract,
while wires carrying antiparallel currents (in opposite directions)
repel each other, as shown in figures a and b.
Ex. (suspending a wire with a current): A horizontal wire carries a current I1 = 80 A.
A second parallel wire d = 20 cm below it must carry how much current I2 so that it
doesn’t fall due to gravity? The lower wire has a mass of 0.12 g per meter of length.
Gravitational force (weight, mg) of the lower wire is
downward. Magnetic force (FB) on the wire must be upward.
So, the currents must be in the same direction, see figure.
We can find I2 from the equilibrium condition that the
magnitude of magnetic force must equal the weight: FB=mg.
III. Definitions of the Ampere and the Coulomb
You may have wondered how the constant μ0 , defined in Section I, could be exactly
4π × 10–7 T·m/A. This, in fact, results from the definition of the unit ampere.
One ampere is defined as that current flowing in each of two long parallel wires 1 m
apart, which results in a force of exactly 2 × 10–7 N per meter of length of each wire.
From this definition, and the force relation given in Section II, we obtain:

Since 1 T = 1 N/A·m (see previous Lecture), we have μ0 = 4π × 10–7 T·m/A .

Once we define the ampere (SI unit for current), we can define the unit for electric
charge, the coulomb, as 1 C = 1 A·s .
Thus, the unit for electric current is a base unit, while the unit for electric charge is
derived from it. We could have done the opposite: define unit charge and derive unit
current from it. But, since experimental control of charge is very hard compared to
current, we define ampere as a base unit and derive coulomb from it. In the end, the
SI units in above definitions must be determined in a measurement and standards
laboratory, like National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in USA, or
Ulusal Metroloji Enstitüsü (UME) in Turkey.
IV. Ampère’s Law
So, now we know the magnetic field produced by a current-carrying long straight wire
(see Section I). What if the wire is not straight? The answer comes from the French
scientist André Marie Ampère:

The above relation between magnetic field and electric current is Ampère’s law.
It is analogous to Gauss’s law for the relation between electric field and charge.
It works as follows: Take any closed loop of any shape in
space (black loop in figure). The path integral of magnetic
field along this closed loop (left-hand-side of Ampère’s law)
equals μ0 Iencl (right-hand-side of Ampère’s law), where Iencl is
I the electric current enclosed by the closed loop (current
passing through the orange surface in figure).

This is why we write the constant of proportionality in Section I as μ0/2π , because in

that way, Ampère’s law becomes simpler, and Ampère’s law is the fundamental
relation between electric current and magnetic field, valid for any case. But in
practice, the left-hand-side can be calculated easily only for symmetric cases.
IV. Ampère’s Law
IV. Ampère’s Law
Example (magnetic field due to a long straight wire): Use Ampère’s law to find the
magnetic field at a distance r to a long straight wire carrying a current I.
The choice of path is ours, so we choose one that will be
convenient to calculate the path integral in Ampère’s law.
We know that the magnetic field lines are circles with the
wire at their center. Using this symmetry, we take a
circular closed loop of radius r , whose center coincides
with the wire (see figure). At any point on this path,
magnetic field B is tangent to the path. Furthermore,
since all points on this path are at the same distance from
the wire, by symmetry we expect B to have the same
magnitude at each point on the circle. Therefore, setting
Iencl = I , Ampère’s law for this choice of loop gives:

This is the relation we have seen in Section I. Therefore, Ampère’s law gives the
correct magnetic field due to a straight wire. But it is not restricted to this simple case.
IV. Ampère’s Law
Ex. (field inside & outside a wire): A long straight cylindrical wire conductor of radius
R carries a current I of uniform current density inside the conductor. Determine the
magnetic field due to this current at (a) points outside the conductor (at a radial
distance r > R from the wire axis), and (b) points inside the conductor (at a radial
distance r < R from the wire axis). Assume r is much smaller than the wire length.
Due to the cylindrical symmetry of the wire, we choose
circular loops centered at the axis of the wire. We expect
that the magnetic field has the constant magnitude on
such a circle and it is always tangent to that circle.
(a) We choose the radius of circle r > R . In this case, we
simply have Iencl = I , and Ampère’s law for r > R gives:

(b) For r < R , the current enclosed by the circle is less

than I by a factor of the ratio of the areas of the circle and
the wire: . Ampère’s law for r < R gives:
V. Magnetic Field of a Solenoid and a Toroid
A long coil wire consisting of many loops is
called a solenoid. In Fig. a, we see the
magnetic field lines due to a solenoid when
the coils are far apart. In Fig. b, the
magnetic field lines are drawn for close
packed coils. As we saw in previous
Lecture, it resembles the magnetic field due
to a bar magnet, with its north pole pointing
right.

Between any two wires, the fields due to

each loop tend to cancel each other. Toward
the center of the solenoid, the fields due to
individual currents add up to give a large
and nearly uniform magnetic field. The field
outside the solenoid is very small compared
to the field inside, except near the ends.
Note that the same number of field lines that
are concentrated inside the solenoid, spread
out into the vast (infinite) space outside.
V. Magnetic Field of a Solenoid and a Toroid

Let us calculate the magnetic field produced by a solenoid, using Ampère’s law. We
choose a rectangular closed loop abcd as shown in the figure. We divide the left-
hand-side of Ampère’s law into four integrals over straight lines ab, bc, cd, and da:

Here, the integral over the path ab is almost zero, because the field outside the
solenoid is approximately zero. The integrals over the paths bc and da are also very
small, since the field inside the solenoid is perpendicular to these paths and field
outside is very small. So the left-hand-side of Ampère’s law is given by only the
integral over the path cd:
V. Magnetic Field of a Solenoid and a Toroid
So, magnetic field outside a solenoid is zero, while it is uniform with a magnitude of B
= μ0 n I inside the solenoid. Here, n is the number of loops per unit length of the
solenoid. Note that B depends only on n and I . It does not depend on the position
inside the solenoid, so it is uniform. This is actually true only for an infinitely long and
infinitely closely packed solenoid, but it is a very good approximation for real ones.
Example (toroid): Use Ampère’s law to determine the magnetic
field (a) inside, and (b) outside a toroid, which is like a solenoid
bent into the shape of a circle (see figure).
(a) Magnetic field lines inside the toroid are circles concentric
with the toroid, and their direction is clockwise for the
orientation shown in the figure. Using this symmetry, we
choose a circular closed path of radius r (Path 1 in the figure).
This path encloses all the coils; if there are N coils each
carrying a current I, then Iencl = N I . Using Ampère’s law:

inside the toroid.

V. Magnetic Field of a Solenoid and a Toroid
So, magnetic field outside a solenoid is zero, while it is uniform with a magnitude of B
= μ0 n I inside the solenoid. Here, n is the number of loops per unit length of the
solenoid. Note that B depends only on n and I . It does not depend on the position
inside the solenoid, so it is uniform. This is actually true only for an infinitely long and
infinitely closely packed solenoid, but it is a very good approximation for real ones.
Example (toroid): Use Ampère’s law to determine the magnetic
field (a) inside, and (b) outside a toroid, which is like a solenoid
bent into the shape of a circle (see figure).
(b) We choose another circular path, this time outside the
toroid (Path 2 in the figure). This path encloses N loops
carrying I in one direction and N loops carrying the same
current in the opposite direction. So, Iencl = N I – N I = 0 for this
Path 2. If the circular path has radius smaller than that of the
toroid (see Path 3 in the figure), it is again outside the
toroid, and again we have Iencl = 0 , this time because it does not enclose any current.
All points on Path 2 are equidistant to the toroid, like all points on Path 3. So, we
expect B to be the same at all points along Path 2 and similarly along Path 3. Hence,
Ampère’s law gives:

outside the toroid.

VI. Biot-Savart Law
Recall from Lecture 2 that the Gauss’s law was valid for any case, but its practical
use was limited to cases of high symmetry. If the charge distribution does not have
any symmetry, we could use Coulomb’s law, by dividing the charge distribution into
infinitesimal charge elements, and calculate the electric field by an integration.
The situation is the same for Ampère’s law: it is valid for any case, but its practical
use is limited to cases of high symmetry. If the electric current distribution does not
have any symmetry, we would need a magnetic form of Coulomb’s law. Such a law
was developed by Jean Baptiste Biot and Felix Savart.
According to Biot and Savart, a current I flowing in any
path can be considered as many infinitesimal current
elements, such as the one shown in the figure. The
magnetic field d B at a point P in space due to an
infinitesimal length dl along which a current I is flowing, is
given by Biot-Savart law as

where r is the displacement vector from the current element dl to the point P, and
r = r/r is the unit vector (of magnitude 1) in the direction of r (see figure).
VI. Biot-Savart Law

The magnitude of this infinitesimal magnetic field is

where θ is the angle between the vectors dl and r .

The total magnetic field at point P is then found by
integrating over all current elements:

An important difference between Ampère’s and Biot-Savart laws is that the magnetic
field B in Ampère’s law is not necessarily due to only the enclosed current, but in
Biot-Savart law it is only due to one infinitesimal current element.
VI. Biot-Savart Law
Ex. (straight wire): Find the magnetic field due to a straight wire from Biot-Savart law.
By the right-hand rule for the vector product of dl × r ,
we see that the magnetic field at a perpendicular
distance R to the wire is into the screen (see figure).
The magnitude of B is calculated from the integral

where dy = dl and

r 2 = R2 + y 2 .
Both y and θ are variables, but they are not independent. From the
geometry shown in the figure, we see that y = – R/tan θ . Then, we have

From the figure, we also see that y = –∞ corresponds to θ = 0 and y = +∞

corresponds to θ = π . So our integral becomes

Note that this result is consistent with what we saw previously in Sections I and IV.
VI. Biot-Savart Law
Ex. (current loop): Find the magnetic field due to a circular current loop on its axis.
For the current element at the top of the loop, the
magnetic field is as shown in the figure, which has a
magnitude

since dl is perpendicular to r .
We can break the magnetic field into components parallel
and perpendicular to the axis (see figure). From the
symmetry, we see that the perpendicular components
due to elements on opposite sides of the loop will cancel
each other. So, we just calculate the parallel component:

At the very center of the loop (at x = 0) the field has its maximum value B = μ0 I/(2R).
VI. Biot-Savart Law
Recall from the previous Lecture 10 that a current loop, such as the one discussed in
the previous example, is considered a magnetic dipole, with a magnetic dipole
moment of μ = I A = I π R2 . Plugging it into the result of the previous example, we can
write the magnetic field produced by a magnetic dipole on its axis as

At large distances from the dipole (for x >> R ), this relation reduces to

We obtained this result for the field on the axis of the dipole, but it is valid for any
point that is a distance x >> R away from the dipole in any direction. So, the
magnetic field produced by a magnetic dipole decreases with the distance as an
inverse-cube-law for far away points (just like the electric field produced by an
electric dipole, see Lecture 1 for instance).
Reference

Physics
for
Scientists & Engineers
with Modern Physics
4th edition
Giancoli