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Interaction of perpendicular wires

Student 3057 9 years ago updated by Physics Tutorial Center Staff 9 years ago 1

Two wires are perpendicular. If one is held still, how will the other rotate? Will they align so their currents are in the same direction, opposite direction, or not move?


Since same direction currents repel and opposite direction currents attract, won't the perpendicular direction be the zero point and there be no force on the wire?

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No, there most definitely would be a force on the wire when the wire's are perpendicular to one another. Depending how you orient the wires (keeping them perpendicular to each other always though), the magnetic field on the other wire not being held still will be out of the page or into the page. Which is always perpendicular to the current. Additionally, keep in mind, torque (tau = r x F) is always a property the rotation of a wire is dependent on.

Hint: Initially the Force and current will be perpendicular therefore there is a torque.