Vacuum Permeability - The Ampere Defines Vacuum Permeability

The Ampere Defines Vacuum Permeability

The ampere is that constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross section, and placed 1 meter apart in vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2×10−7 newton per meter of length.

Adopted in 1948, the effect of this definition is to fix the magnetic constant (permeability of vacuum) at exactly 4π×10−7 H·m−1. To further illustrate:

Two thin, straight, stationary, parallel wires, a distance r apart in free space, each carrying a current I, will exert a force on each other. Ampère's force law states that the force per unit length is given by

The ampere is defined so that if the wires are 1 m apart and the current in each wire is 1 A, the force between the two wires is 2×10−7 N m-1. Hence the value of μ0 is defined to be exactly

Read more about this topic:  Vacuum Permeability

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