Magnetic Field Patterns
3 guided lessons · 27 checks · 6. Magnetism and Electromagnetism → Magnetism and Electromagnetism
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Lesson 1 of 3
Drawing the field of a straight wire
A current-carrying straight wire draws its own field: circles around the wire, clockwise or anticlockwise depending on the current direction, given by the right-hand grip. The drawing skill is to show the circles in the plane perpendicular to the wire, with the current marked into or out of the page.
What you know already
Three current geometries, three drawable fields: circles around a straight wire, a strong axial line through a flat coil, and a bar-magnet twin with a uniform core inside a solenoid. This note is a drawing course — cross and dot conventions, grip-rule polarities, and the spacing that shows strength.
Key points of understanding
- The field pattern for a straight wire is circles centred on the wire.
- The circle direction follows the current by the right-hand grip rule.
- Current into the page is drawn with a cross; current out with a dot.
- The circles are drawn closest together near the wire where the field is strongest.
- The pattern lies in the plane perpendicular to the wire.
The direction of the magnetic field around a wire is given by the right-hand thumb rule
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1.Drawing the field of a straight wire
A current-carrying straight wire draws its own field: circles around the wire, clockwise or anticlockwise depending on the current direction, given by the right-hand grip. The drawing skill is to show the circles in the plane perpendicular to the wire, with the current marked into or out of the page.
The direction of the magnetic field around a wire is given by the right-hand thumb rule
Key points
- The field pattern for a straight wire is circles centred on the wire.
- The circle direction follows the current by the right-hand grip rule.
- Current into the page is drawn with a cross; current out with a dot.
Guided content from the SME authoring corpus — note rn_djn7QGwpMBj2xb2q, pinned at 6312d659ec0d · promoted SyllabAI/syllabai-resources b3caaaa90c5e
