- #1
CAF123
Gold Member
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Consider a hollow cylinder carrying a current I and a wire outside the cylinder carrying a current I'.
Let's say the cylinder is symmetrical with even current distribution etc.. so the B field at any point (due to current in cylinder) within the cylinder is zero by Amperes Law. However, this doesn't mean the B field is zero within the cylinder entirely - there is a B field contribution from the wire. So my question is: What is the usefullness of Amperes Law?
Does Ampere's Law only tell me something about the B field from a particular source?
Also say we have a solid cylinder inside a hollow cylinder with radii a and b respectively. They have opposite current directions. Then by Ampere, the B field at some point P where a < P < b is given as ##B = \frac{\mu I}{2\pi r}, I ##the current in the solid cylinder. Is it really? The B field from the hollow cylinder will be in the opposite direction at P and so acts to cancel the B field at P from the solid cylinder thus resulting in zero net B field, no? Yet the B field at P is in fact nonzero?
I understand how the non zero B field was obtained using Ampere's Law, but the Amperian loop which coincides with P does not simply shield the B field from the hollow cylinder. So I am struggling to see why the B field would be nonzero.
Many thanks.
Let's say the cylinder is symmetrical with even current distribution etc.. so the B field at any point (due to current in cylinder) within the cylinder is zero by Amperes Law. However, this doesn't mean the B field is zero within the cylinder entirely - there is a B field contribution from the wire. So my question is: What is the usefullness of Amperes Law?
Does Ampere's Law only tell me something about the B field from a particular source?
Also say we have a solid cylinder inside a hollow cylinder with radii a and b respectively. They have opposite current directions. Then by Ampere, the B field at some point P where a < P < b is given as ##B = \frac{\mu I}{2\pi r}, I ##the current in the solid cylinder. Is it really? The B field from the hollow cylinder will be in the opposite direction at P and so acts to cancel the B field at P from the solid cylinder thus resulting in zero net B field, no? Yet the B field at P is in fact nonzero?
I understand how the non zero B field was obtained using Ampere's Law, but the Amperian loop which coincides with P does not simply shield the B field from the hollow cylinder. So I am struggling to see why the B field would be nonzero.
Many thanks.