Electromagnetism – What Does the Work on a Current Carrying Wire in a Magnetic Field?

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We consider that the force acting on a current carrying wire placed in a uniform magnetic field perpendicular to the length of the wire is given by $IBl$. If the wire moves by a distance $x$ in a direction perpendicular to its length the raise in its kinetic energy is $IBlx$

Now basically the magnetic forces are acting on the electrons moving inside the wire and is always perpendicular to the instantaneous velocity so it cannot perform any work on it and normals are also unable to provide any net work done on the system, so what provides the change in kinetic energy of the system?

Best Answer

First, just as a reminder, the force of a particle due to a magnetic field is $$\vec{F_B}=q\vec{v}\times\vec{B}$$. As you mentioned the force due to the magnetic field is always perpendicular to the velocity but it is also perpendicular to the magnetic field so the differential work is $$dw_B=\vec{F_B}\cdot d\vec{s}=q(\vec{v}\times\vec{B})\cdot \vec{v}dt=0 $$ so we have verified that the work is indeed zero due to the magnetic field. $\vec{F_B}$ cannot change the speed of the particle so it cannot change it's kinetic energy, but it can change the direction of $\vec{v}$. The total force on the particle is $$\vec{F}=q(\vec{E}+\vec{v}\times\vec{B})$$ so the total work on a particle is $$dw=q\vec{E}\cdot\vec{v}dt$$ which is non zero.

Now lets consider the wire which is really just a group of moving charges. positive particles inside the wire are pushed upward in the wire due to the magnetic force and negative particles are pushed downward (where the up-down directions are orthogonal to the wire velocity v and magnetic field B). The separation of charges induces an E field which produces a force on the respective particles in the opposite direction. In equilibrium the two forces balance and we have $$qvB=qE$$ and the emf across length l is $$\mathcal{E}=El=Bvl$$. When you are talking about an EMF in the wire you should consider the wire in a magnetic field closed by a loop outside the field (see http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/elevol.html#c4 , In your problem the circuit is not closed so the wire goes nowhere) The induced emf can be seen as the work done per unit charge so it is really the E field that changes the velocity of the particles (changes their kinetic energy)perpendicular to the B field.