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Q.For question 15, two statements are given – one labelled Assertion (A) and the other labelled Reason (R). Select the correct answer from the codes (A), (B), (C) and (D) below. (A) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true and Reason (R) is the correct explanation of the Assertion (A). (B) Both Assertion (A) and Reason (R) are true, but Reason (R) is not the correct explanation of the Assertion (A). (C) Assertion (A) is true, but Reason (R) is false. (D) Assertion (A) is false and Reason (R) is also false. Assertion (A) : Two long parallel wires, freely suspended and connected in series to a battery, move apart. Reason (R) : Two wires carrying current in opposite directions repel each other.

CBSECBSE Class XII Board 2024MCQ· 1mImportance★★★★★
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Connected in series, the two freely suspended parallel wires carry equal currents in opposite directions — the current goes out along one wire and returns along the other. Antiparallel currents repel, so the wires move apart. Both statements are true and the Reason is exactly why the wires separate. The correct option is (A).

The physical setup: what does "in series" mean here?

When two long parallel wires hang freely side by side and are joined in series to a battery, there is a single current path: the current leaves the battery, travels along the first wire, crosses over at the far end, and comes back along the second wire to the battery. Because the second wire carries the return current, the two adjacent wires carry equal currents in opposite directions — antiparallel currents.

Force between the wires

Each wire sits in the magnetic field created by the other. For two long parallel wires a distance dd apart carrying currents I1I_1 and I2I_2, the force per unit length on either wire is

FL=μ0I1I22πd\frac{F}{L} = \frac{\mu_0 I_1 I_2}{2\pi d}

with the standard direction rule: parallel (same-direction) currents attract; antiparallel (opposite-direction) currents repel. You can check this with F⃗=IL⃗×B⃗\vec{F} = I\vec{L} \times \vec{B}: for opposite currents, the field of wire 1 at wire 2 gives a force on wire 2 pointing away from wire 1, and by Newton's third law wire 1 is pushed away from wire 2 with equal magnitude.

Evaluating the statements

  1. Assertion (A): "Two long parallel wires, freely suspended and connected in series to a battery, move apart." As shown above, the series connection makes the currents antiparallel, the wires repel, and — being freely suspended — they move apart. True. …

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