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Intensity & Biot Savart

Intensity due to Wire Types & Right Hand Rule

4.5 Magnetic Field due to a Current Element, Biot-Savart Law

NEETprep Audio Note:

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All magnetic fields that we know are due to currents (or moving charges) and due to intrinsic magnetic moments of particles. Here, we shall study the relation between current and the magnetic field it produces. It is given by the Biot-Savart’s law. Figure 4.9 shows a finite conductor XY carrying current I. Consider an infinitesimal element dl of the conductor. The magnetic field dB due to this element is to be determined at a point P which is at a distance r from it. Let θ be the angle between dl and the displacement vector r. According to Biot-Savart’s law, the magnitude of the magnetic field dB is proportional to the current I, the element length |dl|, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance r. Its direction* is perpendicular to the plane containing dl and r . Thus, in vector notation,

Figure 4.9 Illustration of the Biot-Savart law. The current element I dl produces a field dB at a distance r. The ⊗ sign indicates that the field is perpendicular to the plane of this page and directed into it.

[4.11(a)]

where µ₀/4π is a constant of proportionality. The above expression holds when the medium is vacuum.

The magnitude of this field is,

[4.11(b)]

where we have used the property of cross-product. Equation [4.11 (a)] constitutes our basic equation for the magnetic field. The proportionality constant in SI units has the exact value,

[4.11(c)]

We call µ₀ the permeability of free space (or vacuum).

The Biot-Savart law for the magnetic field has certain similarities, as well as, differences with the Coulomb’s law for the electrostatic field. Some of these are:

(i) Both are long range, since both depend inversely on the square of distance from the source to the point of interest. The principle of superposition applies to both fields. [In this connection, note that the magnetic field is linear in the source I dl just as the electrostatic field is linear in its source: the electric charge.]

(ii) The electrostatic field is produced by a scalar source, namely, the electric charge. The magnetic field is produced by a vector source
I dl.

(iii) The electrostatic field is along the displacement vector joining the source and the field point. The magnetic field is perpendicular to the plane containing the displacement vector r and the current element
I dl.

(iv) There is an angle dependence in the Biot-Savart law which is not present in the electrostatic case. In Fig. 4.9, the magnetic field at any point in the direction of dl (the dashed line) is zero. Along this line,
θ = 0, sin θ = 0 and from Eq. [4.11(a)], |dB| = 0.

* The sense of dl × r is also given by the Right Hand Screw rule : Look at the plane containing vectors dl and r. Imagine moving from the first vector towards second vector. If the movement is anticlockwise, the resultant is towards you. If it is clockwise, the resultant is away from you.

There is an interesting relation between ε₀, the permittivity of free space; µ₀, the permeability of free space; and c, the speed of light in
vacuum:

We will discuss this connection further in Chapter 8 on the electromagnetic waves. Since the speed of light in vacuum is constant, the product µ₀ε₀ is fixed in magnitude. Choosing the value of either ε₀ or µ₀, fixes the value of the other. In SI units, µ₀ is fixed to be equal to 4π × 10–7 in magnitude.

Example 4.5 An element

is placed at the origin and carries a large current I = 10 A (Fig. 4.10). What is the magnetic field on the y-axis at a distance of 0.5 m. ∆x = 1 cm. NEETprep Audio Note: