Question

In a physics lab a student discovers that the magnitude of the magnetic field in a specific location near a long wire is 16.708 microTesla. If the wire carries a current of 50.795 A, what is the distance from the wire to that location ?

Answer 1

The magnetic field on a specific distance from a very long wire can be written as:

$B=\frac{\mu_0i}{2\pi d}$

Where d is the distance between the point and the wire, and i is the current. If we replace the values the exercise gives us, we're left with:

$16.708*10^{-6}=\frac{4\pi *10^{-7}*50.795}{2\pi *d}$

Isolating our d, we get:

$d=\frac{4\pi *10^{-7}*50.795}{2\pi *16.708*10^{-6}}=0.608m=60.8cm$

Thus, d=0.608m