CBSE Class 10 Answered

Figure 21: Ampère's experiment.

Ampère discovered that the force exerted on the test wire is directly proportional to its length. He also made the following observations. If the current in the test wire (i.e., the test current) flows parallel to the current in the central wire then the two wires attract one another. If the current in the test wire is reversed then the two wires repel one another. If the test current points radially towards the central wire (and the current in the central wire flows upward) then the test wire is subject to a downward force. If the test current is reversed then the force is upward. If the test current is rotated in a single plane, so that it starts parallel to the central current and ends up pointing radially towards it, then the force on the test wire is of constant magnitude, and is always at right-angles to the test current. If the test current is parallel to a magnetic loop then there is no force exerted on the test wire. If the test current is rotated in a single plane, so that it starts parallel to the central current, and ends up pointing along a magnetic loop, then the magnitude of the force on the test wire attenuates like  (where  is the angle the current is turned through, and  corresponds to the case where the test current is parallel to the central current), and its direction is again always at right-angles to the test current. Finally, Ampère was able to establish that the attractive force between two parallel current carrying wires is proportional to the product of the two currents, and falls off like one over the perpendicular distance between the wires.