Use the worked example above to help you solve this problem. A wire carries a current of 21.8 A from west to east. Assume that at this location the magnetic field of Earth is horizontal and directed from south to north and that it has a magnitude of 5.00 10-5 T. (a) Find the magnitude and direction of the magnetic force on a 38.1 m length of wire. N

Themagnitude of the force is 0.0415N and is directed vertically upwards. The solution to this problem uses the relationship between the Force experienced by a conductor in a magnetic field, the current flowing through the conductor, the length of the conductor and the magnitude of the electric field vector.

Mathematically this can be expressed as

F = I × L ×B

Where F = Force in newtons N

I = current in ampres A

L = length of the conductor in meters (m)

B = magnetic field vector in T

Explanation:

The calculation can be found in the attachment below.

Thedirection of the force can be found by the application of the Fleming's right hand rule. Which states that hold out the right hand with the index finger pointing in the direction of the magnetic field and the thumb pointing in the direction of the current in the conductor, then the direction which the middle finger points is the direction of the force exerted on the conductor. By applying this the direction is vertically upwards.