6/5/2016
Oersted’s Discovery
Learning Goals:
I will be able to use the right hand rule to determine the direction of
the magnetic field lines.
Oersted’s Experiment
He hypothesized that current travelling through a wire would
produce a magnetic field that radiated away from the wire.
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6/5/2016
Oersted’s Principle
A charge moving through a straight conductor
produces a circular magnetic field around the
conductor.
Applying Oersted’s Principle – The Right
Hand Rule
If you hold a straight conductor in your right hand, with your right
thumb pointing in the direction of the conventional current, your
curled fingers will point in the direction of the magnetic field lines.
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6/5/2016
Conventional Current vs. Electron Flow
Conventional Current assumes that
current flows out of the positive terminal,
through the circuit and into the negative
terminal of the source. This was the
convention chosen during the discovery
of electricity. They were wrong!
Electron Flow is what actually happens
and electrons flow out of the negative
terminal, through the circuit and into the
positive terminal of the source.
Example
Current Flow
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6/5/2016
Today’s Tasks
Read Pages 553-556
Pg. 556 #1-2
Work on CAT
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