Lenz's Law Flow Chart For determining the direction of an induced current in a conducting loop Picture a conducting loop and a magnetic field No Is the flux changing? Is there currently a flux through the loop? Yes No Is the flux increasing? No There is no induced current. Yes Yes There is no induced current. Increasing or Decreasing? Increasing Does the loop want an increasing flux? Yes Never Happen...go back! Decreasing No Yes What does the loop want? Does the loop want an decreasing flux? Loop creates an induced magnetic field through its center in the OPPOSITE direction as the external magnetic field so as to cancel the increase in the external magnetic field. Never Happen...go back! No What does the loop want? Loop creates an induced magnetic field through its center in the SAME direction as the external magnetic field so as to replace the loss of the external magnetic field. There is now a magnetic field through the center of the conducting loop. To decrease the flux to its previous state. So what does the loop do? To increase the flux to its previous state. So what does the loop do? The Right Hand Rule for a loop indicates that when the thumb points in the direction of the magnetic field the curl of the fingers are in the direction of the induced current in the loop. There is now a magnetic field through the center of the conducting loop. The Right Hand Rule for a loop indicates that when the thumb points in the direction of the magnetic field the curl of the fingers are in the direction of the induced current in the loop.