Magnet field and Force 1" away from a wire

[BJS]

What is the magnetic field 1" away from a wire carrying 100,000 amps? What is the force on a piece of iron 1" away from the same wire?

thanks in advance,
BJS

 

[IRstuff]

Have you tried your E&M text?

TTFN

 

[jghrist]

It could be a trick question, though. A conductor large enough to carry 100,000 amps would be more than 1" in radius.

 

[Shortstub]

The calculation is usually done knowing center-to-center distance of the two current-carrying elements, not their surface-to-surface spacing. But of course, if the former is known, then the latter can be determined.

In the 1980's when scientists were all "fired-up" (excuse the pun) about the "rail-gun", such calculations were child's play considering that they were using magnitudes of about 10MA. While I don't have any info regarding the methodology used, I do recall bus-bar separations of 5/8" to 3/4".

So, if your query is not a trick question, contact:

University of Texas
Balcones Center for Electromechanics
Austin, Texas