Lorentz Force: Opposite Currents and Positive Charge Carriers

[lufc88]

'One example of the Lorentz force is that, if two parallel wires are carrying current in the same direction, the wires will be pulled toward each other. The Z-pinch uses this same effect; the entire plasma can be thought of as many current-carrying wires, all carrying current in the same direction, and they are all pulled toward each other by the Lorentz force, thus the plasma contracts. The contraction is counteracted by the increasing gas pressure of the plasma.'
What happens if one wire hypothetically is carrying current carried by positive ions or positive charge carriers but the current traveling in the opposite direction what happens then?

 

[Dr_Morbius]

Same thing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_current#Conventions

 

[lufc88]

But when two normal parallel wires carrying normal current are carrying the current in opposite directions they repel

 

[Dr_Morbius]

If one wire has negative charges traveling in one direction and the other has positive charges traveling in the other direction then what I said is correct. Read the link.

 

[sardar]

In this hypothetical scenario, the Lorentz force would still be present and would still result in a pulling force between the wires. However, since the currents are traveling in opposite directions, the force would be in the opposite direction as well, causing the wires to repel each other. This is because the Lorentz force is dependent on the direction of the current and the direction of the magnetic field, and in this case, they are both in opposite directions. This scenario would not be applicable to the Z-pinch effect as the plasma in the Z-pinch is composed of both positive and negative charge carriers, and the overall direction of current is still in the same direction, resulting in a contracting force.