The current and magnetic field of an ideal solenoid.

[winbacker]

This is not a homework question, it's just to help my conceptual understanding of two quick things:

Suppose you have an ideal solenoid placed horizontally in front of you. The current is traveling (spiralling) from your left to your right.

What direction is the magnetic field inside the loop going in? In the same direction as the current(to the right), or the opposite direction (or the left)?

In other words, inside an ideal solenoid, are the current and magnetic field in the same direction or opposite direction?

Also
In circuit diagrams, the current always flows from the + terminal to the - terminal right? In some diagrams, the large terminal is replaced by what appears to be a "capital epsilon". The symbol stands for EMF (Electromotive Force). I assume the current begins at the EMF terminal and ends at the other (smaller one?).

If anyone could confirm this info for me it would be a great help.

 

[Vuldoraq]

The current and the magnetic field are always at right angles to each other.

It is true that the magentic field flows in the same direction as the net current flow, but only in this special case.

For emf see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromotive_force

Also try to post int the general questions forum if it's not a homework related question!

 

[nlightner]

I can confirm that the magnetic field inside an ideal solenoid is in the same direction as the current, which in this case would be to the right.

In circuit diagrams, the direction of the current is represented by the direction of the arrow, which always goes from the positive terminal to the negative terminal. The capital epsilon symbol represents the EMF, which is the force that drives the current in a circuit. The current starts at the positive terminal (represented by the EMF symbol) and ends at the negative terminal. This is known as the conventional current flow direction. However, in reality, the electrons actually flow from the negative terminal to the positive terminal, which is known as the electron flow direction. Both directions are valid and can be used to describe the flow of current in a circuit.