An electron moves west to east in the continental United...

Name: Problem 2, Chapter 22: Physics
Uploaded: 2021-03-26T15:16:44-08:00
Duration: 1 min 46 s
Channel: Noor Aldeen Almusleh
Description: An electron moves west to east in the continental United States. Does the magnetic force experienced by the electron point in a direction that is generally north, south, east, west, upward, or downward? Explain.

An electron moves west to east in the continental United States. Does the magnetic force experienced by the electron point in a direction that is generally north, south, east, west, upward, or downward? Explain.

Labs

Want to see this concept in action?

NEW

Explore this concept interactively to see how it behaves as you change inputs.

View Labs

Key Concepts

Magnetic Field Orientation

In many locations on Earth, the magnetic field is not purely horizontal but has both a horizontal component (generally pointing toward geographic north) and a vertical component (generally directed downward). This means that when a charged particle moves in the Earth’s magnetic field, both components can contribute to the overall direction of the magnetic force.

Lorentz Force

This principle states that a charged particle moving through a magnetic field experiences a force given by F = q (v × B), where q is the charge, v is the velocity, and B is the magnetic field. The force results from a vector cross product, meaning its direction is perpendicular to both the velocity and the magnetic field.

Right-Hand Rule and Negative Charge

For a positive charge, the right-hand rule is used to determine the direction of the force by aligning the fingers along the velocity and curling them toward the magnetic field; the thumb then points in the force direction. For negative charges like electrons, the force is in the opposite direction to what the right-hand rule indicates for a positive charge.

Transcript

Please give Ace some feedback