A New Explanation to the Attractive Force Experienced between Two Parallel Current Carrying Conductors

Abstract

In this paper the electromagnetic force between two parallel electric currents, carried by thin conductors in the close vicinity of each other, is calculated. This is done by using Coulomb’s Law instead of Lorentz’ Force Law. The success was possible thanks to the rigorous analysis of the propagation delay, due to moving electrons, and the application of the length contraction according to the Special Relativity Theory. In the calculations, also the necessary feeding back of the electric currents back to their origin is taken into account. However, only the parts of the circuit, where the two currents are in close vicinity, contribute substantially to the mutual force. The result of the calculations is that the force between two parallel currents, carried by thin conductors, obeys the inverse square law, exactly as the Lorentz Force Law does. There is one important difference: The coupling constant is slightly smaller. This indicates that the currents must be correspondingly larger than expected when using Lorentz’ Force Law. Another consequence of the new theory is that the spatial dependence of the electromagnetic forces displays a different shape.