Fleming’s Left-Hand Rule for the Direction of Force
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Experiment to Demonstrate the Force Acting on a Current-Carrying Conductor Placed in a Magnetic Field : The Kicking Wire Experiment
Fleming’s Left-Hand Rule for the Direction of Force
- When a current carrying wire is placed in a magnetic field, a force is exerted on the wire
- Hold the forefinger, the centre finger and the thumb of your left hand at right angles to one another.
- Adjust your hand in such a way that the forefinger points in the direction of magnetic field and the centre finger points in the direction of current in the conductor, then the direction in which the thumb points gives the direction of motion of the conductor
- By convention, the direction of flow of positive charges is taken to be the direction of flow of current.
- The direction of electric current is, however, taken to be opposite to the direction of flow of negative charges (such as electrons).
- So, if we are given the direction of flow of electrons, then the direction of electric current will be taken as opposite to the direction of flow of electrons.
