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Q.What is Lorentz force? Derive the formula for magnetic force acting on current carrying straight conducting rod placed in a uniform magnetic field.

Uttarakhand UbseUttarakhand Board Intermediate (Class 12) 2025Subjective· 3mImportance★★★★★
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The total electromagnetic force on a moving charge is the Lorentz force; summing this magnetic part over all free charges in a current-carrying rod gives F=BILsin⁡θF=BIL\sin\theta.

Lorentz force: The total force experienced by a charge qq moving with velocity v⃗\vec v in the presence of both an electric field E⃗\vec E and a magnetic field B⃗\vec B is called the Lorentz force:

F⃗=qE⃗+qv⃗×B⃗=q(E⃗+v⃗×B⃗)\vec F = q\vec E + q\vec v\times\vec B = q(\vec E + \vec v\times\vec B)

The first term is the electric force (independent of velocity), and the second term qv⃗×B⃗q\vec v\times\vec B is the magnetic force (which acts only on moving charges and is always perpendicular to both v⃗\vec v and B⃗\vec B).

Derivation of the force on a current-carrying rod in a uniform field:

Consider a straight conducting rod of length LL and cross-sectional area AA, placed in a uniform magnetic field B⃗\vec B, carrying current II. Let nn be the number of free charge carriers per unit volume, each of charge qq, drifting with drift velocity v⃗d\vec v_d along the rod.

The magnetic force on a single charge carrier is qv⃗d×B⃗q\vec v_d\times\vec B. The total number of free charges in the rod is N=n (AL)N = n\,(A L) (volume ×\times number density). So the total magnetic force on the rod is

F⃗=N (qv⃗d×B⃗)=(nqvdA) (L⃗×B⃗)/L⋅L\vec F = N\,(q\vec v_d\times\vec B) = (nqv_d A)\,(\vec L\times\vec B)/L \cdot L …

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