When an electric current passes through a solenoid, it creates a magnetic field. To use the right hand grip rule ina solenoid problem, point your fingers in the direction of the conventional current and wrap your fingers as if theywere around the solenoid. Your thumb will point in the direction of the magnetic field lines inside the solenoid. Notethat the magnetic field lines are in the opposite direction outside the solenoid.

1. The right hand grip rule (also known as right hand screw rule) tells you the direction of a magnetic field due to a current.
2. However, the core material used in the school laboratory is more likely to be steel rather than iron, which has a much more modest relative permeability of 100.
3. Helices are either right or left handed with curled fingers giving the direction of rotation and thumb giving the direction of advance along the z-axis.
4. When there is alternating current, the wire vibrates, but when it is direct current we can apply force in a specific direction.
5. If you point your thumb in the direction of the current, your fingers will curl in the direction of the magnetic field.
6. This also tells us that magnetic monopoles (that is to say, isolated N and S poles) are impossible.

When the magnetic flux through a closed loop conductor changes, it induces a current within the loop. The inducedcurrent creates a secondary magnetic field that opposes the original change in flux that initiated the induced current.The strength of the magnetic field passing through a wire coil determines the magnetic flux. Magnetic flux depends onthe strength of the field, the area of the coil, and the relative orientation between the field and the coil, as shownin the following equation.

This is a consequence of Maxwell’s second equation of Electromagnetism (one of a system of four equations developed by James Clark Maxwell in 1873 that summarise our current understanding of electromagnetism). Over many centuries, by patient trial-and-error, humans learned how to magnetise a piece of iron to make a permanent magnet. Yes, the Lorentz force law holds, so whatever rule you’re doing with your right hand must be wrong. One of the best ways to help students become confident using the right hand rule, is to perform a visual demonstration that helps them recognize and correct their misconceptions about orthogonal relationships and coordinate systems. IBO was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, the resources created by Save My Exams. The typical methods used to identify the N and S poles are shown below.

1. Sincethere are two possible directions for a cross product, the right hand rule should be used to determine the directionof the cross product vector.
2. The hand rules work the same but they are based on two different current concepts.
3. Since electric current is made of moving charges we can also push it around with magnets.
4. A different form of the right-hand rule is used in situations where a vector must be assigned to the rotation of a body, a magnetic field or a fluid.
5. The force on the current is perpendicular to both of these and is predicted by your middle fingerThis 2nd rule is usually called the Lorentz Force named after H.

As the current flows upward, the magnetic field will wrap around. All of these rules, in the end, come from the right hand cross product rule anyways. There are lots of things you can do with your right hand, though, so I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them gave you the right direction. For left-handed coordinates, the above description of the axes is the same, except using the left hand; and the ¼ turn is clockwise. In certain situations, it may be useful to use the opposite convention, where one of the vectors is reversed and so creates a left-handed triad instead of a right-handed triad. It helps you remember direction when vectors get cross multiplied.

Left handedness

The north end of the solenoid repels the north end of this bar magnet. In the diagram above, the thumb aligns with the z axis, the index finger aligns with the x axis and the middle finger aligns with the y axis. The current in a long, straight vertical wire is in the direction XY, as shown in the diagram.

Thirdly, establish the direction of the field lines using the standard right hand grip rule (3). Unlike most mathematical concepts, the meaning of a right-handed coordinate system cannot be expressed in terms of any mathematical axioms. Rather, the definition depends on chiral phenomena in the physical world, for example the culturally transmitted meaning of right and left hands, a majority human population with dominant right hand, or certain phenomena involving the weak force.

Nuclear Physics

The first method I dislike because it creates confusion with the ‘proper’ right hand grip rule which tells us the direction of the magnetic field lines around a long straight conductor and which I’ve written about before . The right-hand rule dates back to the 19th century when it was implemented as a way for identifying the positive direction of coordinate axes in three dimensions. William Rowan Hamilton, recognized for his development of quaternions, a mathematical system for representing three-dimensional rotations, is often attributed with the introduction of this convention. Following a substantial debate,2 the mainstream shifted from Hamilton’s quaternionic system to Gibbs’ three-vectors system. This transition led to the prevalent adoption of the right-hand rule in the contemporary contexts.

A conventional current is composed of moving charges that are positive in nature. When a conventional current moves through right hand grip rule a conducting wire,the wire is affected by a magnetic field that pushes it. We can use the right hand rule to identify the direction of the force acting on thecurrent-carrying wire.

Right Hand Rule for Lenz’s Law

To apply the right hand grip rule,align your thumb with the direction of the conventional current (positive to negative) and your fingers will indicate thedirection of the magnetic lines of flux. In the first wire, the flow of positive charges up the pageindicates that negative charges are flowing down the page. Using the right hand rule tells us that the magneticforce will point in the right direction. In the second wire, the negative charges are flowing up the page, whichmeans the positive charges are flowing down the page. As a result, the right hand rule indicates that the magneticforce is pointing in the left direction.

Lenz’s law of electromagnetic induction is another topic that often seems counterintuitive, because it requiresunderstanding how magnetism and electric fields interact in various situations. Lenz’s law states that the directionof the current induced in a closed conducting loop by a changing magnetic field (Faraday’s Law) is such that thesecondary magnetic field created by the induced current opposes the initial change in the magnetic field that producedit. To apply the right hand rule to cross products, align your fingers and thumb at right angles.

Coordinates

The solenoid will behave exactly like a bar magnet with a clearly defined north and south pole. In vector calculus, it is necessary to relate a normal vector of a surface to the boundary curve of the surface. Since the field lines are heading into this end of the solenoid, we can conclude that the right hand side of this solenoid is, in fact, a south-seeking pole.

Effects of Forces

You can do this in reverse by starting your thumb in the direction of the vector and see how your fingers curl to see the direction of rotation. If you point your thumb in the direction of current in a wire, the magnetic field that comes up around it is in the direction of your curling fingers. The right-hand rules assume conventional current, that is… current flows from positive to negative.