Four long parallel wires pass through the corners of a square with side $0.10 \mathrm{m}\(. All four wires carry the same magnitude of current \)I=10.0 \mathrm{A}\( in the directions indicated. Find the magnetic field at point \)R,$ the midpoint of the left side of the square.

Short Answer

Expert verified
Answer: The magnetic field at point R is \(2 \times 10^{-5} \mathrm{T}\).

Step by step solution

01

Biot-Savart law for a straight wire

In this problem, we will find the contribution of each wire at point R using the Biot-Savart law. The Biot-Savart law for a straight wire is given by: $$ d\vec{B} = \frac{\mu_0 I}{4\pi} \frac{d\vec{L}\times \vec{r}}{r^3} $$ where \(\mu_0\) is the permeability of free space, \(I\) is the current, \(d\vec{L}\) is a small segment of the wire, \(\vec{r}\) is the position vector from the segment to the point where we want to find the magnetic field, and \(r\) is the magnitude of the position vector. Since all four wires carry the same current and are symmetrically placed, the total magnetic field at point R will be the sum of the magnetic fields produced by each wire.
02

Finding the magnetic field by each wire

We will now calculate the magnetic field produced by the wires at point R. We shall use the following notation: \(B_1\) for the magnetic field produced by the top left corner wire \(B_2\) for the magnetic field produced by the top right corner wire \(B_3\) for the magnetic field produced by the bottom right corner wire \(B_4\) for the magnetic field produced by the bottom left corner wire Our goal is to find \(B_R = B_1 + B_2 + B_3 + B_4\). Due to symmetry, we can see that \(B_1\) and \(B_2\) will have horizontal components that cancel out with each other. Hence, we only need to find the vertical components of \(B_1\) and \(B_2\). Similarly, we can see that \(B_3\) and \(B_4\) will have vertical components that cancel each other out. Hence, we only need to find the horizontal components of \(B_3\) and \(B_4\).
03

Calculating the vertical components of \(B_1\) and \(B_2\)

At point R, both \(B_1\) and \(B_2\) are at a distance of \(0.1 \mathrm{m}\) and have an angle of \(45^{\circ}\) with respect to the horizontal axis. Using the Biot-Savart law, the magnetic field components can be calculated as follows: $$ B_{1_{ver}} = B_1\sin 45^{\circ} = \frac{\mu_0 I}{4 \pi (0.1\mathrm{m})} \cdot \sin 45^{\circ} $$ As \(B_2\) is a mirror image of \(B_1\), we have: $$ B_{2_{ver}} = B_{1_{ver}} $$
04

Calculating the horizontal components of \(B_3\) and \(B_4\)

At point R, both \(B_3\) and \(B_4\) are at a distance of \(0.1 \mathrm{m}\) and have an angle of \(45^{\circ}\) with respect to the horizontal axis as well. However, for \(B_3\) and \(B_4\) we need to find the horizontal components, and so we have: $$ B_{3_{hor}} = B_3\cos 45^{\circ} = \frac{\mu_0 I}{4 \pi (0.1\mathrm{m})} \cdot \cos 45^{\circ} $$ And since \(B_4\) is a mirror image of \(B_3\), we have: $$ B_{4_{hor}} = B_{3_{hor}} $$
05

Calculating the total magnetic field at R

Now that we have all the components, we can find the total magnetic field at point R: $$ B_R = \sqrt{(B_{1_{ver}} + B_{2_{ver}})^2 + (B_{3_{hor}} + B_{4_{hor}})^2} $$ Plug in the values for the components and the permeability of free space (\(\mu_0 = 4\pi \times 10^{-7} \mathrm{T m/A}\)), we get: $$ B_R = \sqrt{2(\frac{4\pi \times 10^{-7} \mathrm{Tm/A} \cdot 10\mathrm{A}}{4 \pi (0.1\mathrm{m})})^2} $$ Solve for \(B_R\): $$ B_R = 2 \times 10^{-5} \mathrm{T} $$ So, the magnetic field at point R is \(2 \times 10^{-5} \mathrm{T}\).

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

In an electric motor, a circular coil with 100 turns of radius $2.0 \mathrm{~cm}$ can rotate between the poles of a magnet. When the current through the coil is \(75 \mathrm{~mA},\) the maximum torque that the motor can deliver is \(0.0020 \mathrm{~N} \cdot \mathrm{m} .\) (a) What is the strength of the magnetic field? (b) Is the torque on the coil clockwise or counterclockwise as viewed from the front at the instant shown in the figure?
In Problem \(35,\) the width of the strip is \(3.5 \mathrm{cm},\) the magnetic field is \(0.43 \mathrm{T}\), the Hall voltage is measured to be $7.2 \mu \mathrm{V},\( the thickness of the strip is \)0.24 \mathrm{mm},$ and the current in the wire is 54 A. What is the density of carriers (number of carriers per unit volume) in the strip?
In a certain region of space, there is a uniform electric field \(\overrightarrow{\mathbf{E}}=2.0 \times 10^{4} \mathrm{V} / \mathrm{m}\) to the east and a uniform magnetic field \(\overline{\mathbf{B}}=0.0050 \mathrm{T}\) to the west. (a) What is the electromagnetic force on an electron moving north at \(1.0 \times 10^{7} \mathrm{m} / \mathrm{s} ?(\mathrm{b})\) With the electric and magnetic fields as specified, is there some velocity such that the net electromagnetic force on the electron would be zero? If so, give the magnitude and direction of that velocity. If not, explain briefly why not.
A straight wire is aligned east-west in a region where Earth's magnetic field has magnitude \(0.48 \mathrm{mT}\) and direction \(72^{\circ}\) below the horizontal, with the horizontal component directed due north. The wire carries a current \(I\) toward the west. The magnetic force on the wire per unit length of wire has magnitude \(0.020 \mathrm{N} / \mathrm{m}\) (a) What is the direction of the magnetic force on the wire? (b) What is the current \(I ?\)
A uniform magnetic field of \(0.50 \mathrm{T}\) is directed to the north. At some instant, a particle with charge \(+0.020 \mu \mathrm{C}\) is moving with velocity \(2.0 \mathrm{m} / \mathrm{s}\) in a direction \(30^{\circ}\) north of east. (a) What is the magnitude of the magnetic force on the charged particle? (b) What is the direction of the magnetic force?
See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Physics Textbooks

View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free