- #1
Dextrine
- 102
- 7
Homework Statement
Two parallel wires are a distance 2 b apart from the origin and carry current I out of the plane of the paper.
Find the magnitude and direction of the magnetic field B(y) along the y axis.
Homework Equations
∫B⋅dl=μI[/B]
The Attempt at a Solution
If we take ∫dl = 2πr
B=μI/(2πr)
r=√(b^2+y^2)
Clearly the y components cancel so we are left with only the horizontal components, that is
B_total=2Bcos(θ)
cos(θ)=b/√(b^2+y^2)
However, in the answer key provided, it says that cos(θ)=y/(b^2+y^2)
I don't understand why this would give this horizontal component. It seems like this would give the vertical component.