Chapter 10 Magnetic Effect of Current

CHAPTER 10
MAGNETIC EFFECT OF
CURRENT
Overview on IGCSE Syllabus
Magnetic effect of a current
1. Describe the pattern and direction of the magnetic field due to currents in straight wires and in solenoids.
2. Describe an experiment to identify the pattern of the magnetic field (including direction) due to currents in
straight wires and in solenoids.
3. State the qualitative variation of the strength of the magnetic field around straight wires and solenoids.
4. Describe the effect on the magnetic field around straight wires and solenoids of changing the
magnitude and direction of the current.
5. Describe how the magnetic effect of a current is used in relays and loudspeakers and give
examples of their application.
Force on a current-carrying conductor
1. Describe an experiment to show that a force acts on a current-carrying conductor in a magnetic
field, including the effect of reversing:
(a) the current
(b) the direction of the field
2. Recall and use the relative directions of force, magnetic field and current
3. Determine the direction of the force on beams of charged particles in a magnetic field
The d.c. motor
1. Know that a current-carrying coil in a magnetic field may experience a turning effect and that the
turning effect is increased by increasing:
(a) the number of turns on the coil
(b) the current
(c) the strength of the magnetic field
2. Describe the operation of an electric motor, including the action of a split-ring commutator and
brushes.
Khizar Yousaf
[Email address]
Chapter 10 Magnetic effect of Current
Magnetic effect of Current
The magnetic field pattern due to a straight wire:
We can plot the magnetic field pattern of a current-carrying

straight wire by means of a plotting compass. The way to do
it is by placing a wire upward through a small hole in a
horizontal card board as shown in a figure the resulting field
lines are concentric circles around the wire.
Direction of magnetic field:
Right-hand Grip Rule:
Right-hand Grip rule is used to predict the direction of

magnetic field.
“Grip the wire with the right hand, with the thumb
pointing along the direction of current. The curl of the
fingers is in the direction of the magnetic field around
the wire.”
Strength of magnetic field in a long straight wire is

strong.
• Nearer to the wire
• When a large current flows through it.
Magnetic field pattern of a solenoid:
“A solenoid is a coil often wrapped around a metallic core, which produces a

uniform magnetic field.”
The magnetic field pattern of a solenoid resembles that of a bar magnet.
Direction of magnetic field in case of solenoid can be

predicted by two ways:
1. If you are griping the solenoid with your right hand so

that your fingers follow the direction of the current and
your thumb will point towards the North end of
electromagnet.
Khizar Yousaf/Zeeshan Raza 1|Page

2. When viewing one end of the coil, it will

be a North pole if the current is flowing in
the anti-clockwise direction and a south
pole if the current is flowing in clockwise
direction.
Strength of magnetic field in case of solenoid:
The strength of magnetic field can be increased by:
• Increasing the current
• Increasing the number of turns per unit length of solenoid.
• Using a soft-iron core within the solenoid
Relay:
A relay is a simple electromechanical switch made up of an electromagnet

and a set of contacts. Relays are found hidden in all sorts of devices. It is a
device to control the switch of another circuit without any direct electrical
contact between them.
The relay consists of two circuits. Circuit 1 is a simple electromagnet which

requires only a small current.
When the switch is closed, current flows
and the iron rocker arm is attracted to the
electromagnet.
The arm rotates about the central pivot and
pushes the contacts together.
Circuit 2 is now switched on. Circuit 2 may

have a large current flowing through it,
to operate a powerful motor or very bright
lights. When the switch is opened the
electromagnet releases the rocker arm and the
spring moves the contacts apart.
Circuit 2 is now switched off.
Why is a Relay Used?
The advantage of using a relay is that a small current (circuit 1) can be used to
switch on and off a circuit with a large current (circuit 2).

This is useful for two reasons.

1. The low current circuit (circuit 1) may contain a component such as an LDR,
which only uses small currents.
2. Only the high current circuit (circuit 2) needs to be made from thick wire.
A relay is used to operate the starter motor in cars and the heating circuit in
diesel engines.
Force on a current-carrying conductor:
Whenever a current-carrying wire is placed in a uniform magnetic field, a force

acts on the wire. This force acts as a right angle to both current direction and
the direction of magnetic field.
Direction of force, current and magnetic field:
To deduce the direction of force on current-carrying wire we use
Fleming’s left-hand Rule:
According to this rule, stretch the thumb, forefinger,

and the middle finger of the left hand mutually at
right angles to each other. If the forefinger points in
the direction of the magnetic field, the middle finger in
the direction of the current, then the thumb would
indicate the direction of the force acting on the
conductor.
D.C Motor:
D.C. motor is a device which converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.
Working Principle:
It works on the principle of tuning effect of force on a current carrying coil, i.e.
it uses the behavior of a current carrying wire/coil in the presence of magnetic
field.

Construction:
D.C. motor consist of
1. Armature: A rectangular coil ABCD is mounted on an axle

that allows it to rotate about the axis PQ.
2. Commutator: The ends of the coil are connected to split-

rings or commutator. The commutator rotates with the coil.
3. Carbon brushes: two carbon brushes are made to compress lightly against
the commutator.
Working: If a current is passed through a coil positioned in a magnetic field,

the coil will experience a force according to Fleming’s Left Hand Rule. The left
hand of the coil AB will experience an upwards force and right hand side CD of
the coil will experience a downwards force.
When coil reaches the vertical position, the commutator changes its polarity.
This means that current will reverse direction in the coil, but since the coil has
undergone a half turn, CD is on the left and AB is on the right. Now CD
experiences an upward force, AB experiences a downward force and the coil
continue to turn in the same sense i.e. clockwise.
To increase the turning effect on the coil, we can:
• Increase the number of turns of the coil.
• Increase the current.
• Place a soft-iron core within the magnetic field lines.

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CHAPTER 10

Magnetic effect of Current

The magnetic field pattern due to a straight wire:

We can plot the magnetic field pattern of a current-carrying

Direction of magnetic field:

Right-hand Grip Rule:

Right-hand Grip rule is used to predict the direction of

Strength of magnetic field in a long straight wire is

• Nearer to the wire

• When a large current flows through it.

Magnetic field pattern of a solenoid:

“A solenoid is a coil often wrapped around a metallic core, which produces a

The magnetic field pattern of a solenoid resembles that of a bar magnet.

Direction of magnetic field in case of solenoid can be

1. If you are griping the solenoid with your right hand so

Khizar Yousaf/Zeeshan Raza 1|Page

2. When viewing one end of the coil, it will

Strength of magnetic field in case of solenoid:

The strength of magnetic field can be increased by:

• Increasing the current

• Increasing the number of turns per unit length of solenoid.

• Using a soft-iron core within the solenoid

A relay is a simple electromechanical switch made up of an electromagnet

The relay consists of two circuits. Circuit 1 is a simple electromagnet which

Circuit 2 is now switched on. Circuit 2 may

Why is a Relay Used?

Khizar Yousaf/Zeeshan Raza 2|Page

This is useful for two reasons.

Force on a current-carrying conductor:

Whenever a current-carrying wire is placed in a uniform magnetic field, a force

Direction of force, current and magnetic field:

To deduce the direction of force on current-carrying wire we use

Fleming’s left-hand Rule:

According to this rule, stretch the thumb, forefinger,

Khizar Yousaf/Zeeshan Raza 3|Page

D.C. motor consist of

1. Armature: A rectangular coil ABCD is mounted on an axle

2. Commutator: The ends of the coil are connected to split-

Working: If a current is passed through a coil positioned in a magnetic field,

To increase the turning effect on the coil, we can:

• Increase the number of turns of the coil.

• Increase the current.

• Place a soft-iron core within the magnetic field lines.

Khizar Yousaf/Zeeshan Raza 4|Page

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