Eur. Phys. J. D 15, 87-97 (2001)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s100530170186

An experimental confirmation of longitudinal electrodynamic forces

¹ Dept. of Engineering Science, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 3PJ, England
² 908 South Busey Ave. Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
³ School of Mathematics, Sheffield University, P.O. Box 597, Sheffield S10 2UN, England

Corresponding author: ^a neal.graneau@eng.ox.ac.uk

Received: 15 November 2000
Revised: 12 March 2001
Published online: 15 July 2001

Abstract

According to the conventional views of electromagnetic theory, as these are expressed in the Lorentz force law, all the forces which act on a current carrying metallic conductor are perpendicular to the current streamlines. However, over the years, from Ampère through Maxwell until the present day, there have been persistent claims that when current flows in a metallic conductor, there are mechanical forces acting along current streamlines which subject the conductor to tensile stress, and which are therefore capable of performing work in the direction of current flow. The problem of substantiating these claims has always lain in the difficulty of designing an experiment in which the effects are unambiguously demonstrated. The present paper describes an experiment which to a large extent removes these ambiguities, and which provides a compelling novel demonstration of forces acting along current streamlines. A force calculation based on Ampère's original electrodynamic force law is found to be consistent with the observed behaviour.