AP Physics 2 Exam Question:

Consider a current-carrying wire perpendicular to a magnetic field. The wire is placed in such a way that the direction of the current and the direction of the magnetic field are parallel to each other. If the wire carries a current of 2.0 Amperes and experiences a force of 0.5 Newtons due to the magnetic field, determine the magnitude of the magnetic field.

Answer:

The force experienced by a wire carrying current in a magnetic field is given by the formula:

Where: F = Force experienced by the wire (in Newtons) B = Magnetic field strength (in Tesla) I = Current (in Amperes) L = Length of the wire (in meters)

Given: Current (I) = 2.0 Amperes Force (F) = 0.5 Newtons

Since the direction of the current and magnetic field are parallel, we can determine the magnitude of the magnetic field (B) using the following rearrangement of the formula:

Substituting the given values into the formula, we get:

However, since the length of the wire (L) is not provided, we cannot directly calculate the magnitude of the magnetic field.