The Magnetic Force Between

Two Parallel Conductors

AP Physics C
Montwood High School
R. Casao
When a current-carrying
conductor is placed in an
external magnetic field B, the
magnetic force on the conductor
is given by: F = I (L x B).
Consider two parallel wires of
equal length carrying a steady
current:
The two wires will exert
magnetic forces on each
other.
Wire 1 will exert a magnetic
force on wire 2; wire 2 will
exert a magnetic force on
wire 1.
The wires are separated by distance a and
carry currents I
1
and I
2
in the same
direction.
Wire 2, carrying current I
2
, sets up a
magnetic field B
2
at the position of wire 1.
- The direction of the
magnetic field B
2
is
perpendicular to the wire.
- F
1
= F
2 on 1
= I
1
(L x B
2
)
- Angle q between L and B
2

is 90.

F
1
= F
2 on 1
= I
1
(L x B
2
) = I
1
L B
2
sin q
F
1
= F
2 on 1
= I
1
L B
2
Biot-Savart law for the magnetic field B2:


Substituting:
a 2
I
B
2 o
2

a 2
I I L
F F
a 2
I
L I B L I F F
2 1 o
1 on 2 1
2 o
1 2 1 1 on 2 1

Rewriting in terms of the force per unit
length:


The direction of F
1
is downward and is
determined using the right hand rule
(fingers of right hand in direction of
current I; palm facing in the direction of
B; thumb points down in the direction of
F
1
)
The magnetic force that wire 1 exerts on
wire 2 (F
1 on 2
) is equal in magnitude to
and opposite in direction to F
1
(F
2 on 1
).
a 2
I I
L
F
2 1 o

Wire 1 and wire 2 will attract each

other.
When the currents are in opposite
directions, the magnetic forces again
equal in magnitude but are opposite
in direction and the wires repel each
other.
Conclusions: parallel conductors
carrying currents in the same
direction attract each other; parallel
conductors carrying currents in
opposite directions repel each other.
Force between two parallel current-
carrying straight wires
1. Parallel wires with current flowing in the
same direction, attract each other.
2. Parallel wires with current flowing in the
opposite direction, repel each other.

The force between two parallel wires each
carrying a current is used to define the
ampere (A):
If two long, parallel wires 1 m apart carry the
same current I and the force per unit length on
each wire is 2 x 10
-7
N/m, then the current is
defined to be 1 A.
If I
1
= I
2
= 1 A and a = 1 m, the numerical
value of 2 x 10
-7
N/m is obtained from:

a 2
I I
L
F
2 1 o

The unit of charge, the coulomb, can be

defined in terms of the ampere:
If a conductor carries a steady current of
1 A, then the quantity of charge that flows
through a cross-section of the conductor in
1 s is 1 C.