Chapter 35: Problem 13
Consider a positively charged particle moving at constant speed parallel to a current-carrying wire, in the direction of the current. As you know (after studying Chapters 27 and 28), the particle is attracted to the wire by the magnetic force due to the current. Now suppose another observer moves along with the particle, so according to him the particle is at rest. Of course, a particle at rest feels no magnetic force. Does that observer see the particle attracted to the wire or not? How can that be? (Either answer seems to lead to a contradiction: If the particle is attracted, it must be by an electric force because there is no magnetic force, but there is no electric field from a neutral wire; if the particle is not attracted, you see that the particle is, in fact, moving toward the wire.)
Short Answer
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Key Concepts
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