Magnetic Field Due to a Finite Length

Current-Carrying Wire Using the Concept

of Displacement Current
Cite as: Phys. Teach. 52, 413 (2014); https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4895357
Published Online: 22 September 2014

Robert Buschauer

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Magnetic Field Due to a Finite Length
Current-Carrying Wire Using the
Concept of Displacement Current
Robert Buschauer, Cerritos Community College, Norwalk, CA
I
n undergraduate E&M courses the magnetic field due to a
finite length, current-carrying wire can be calculated us-
ing the Biot-Savart law.1 However, to the author’s knowl-
edge, no textbook presents the calculation of this field using
the Ampere-Maxwell law:
(1)
Here I present a novel calculation of this field that includes
the concept of displacement current. We find that the con-
duction and displacement current terms both make essential
contributions. One advantage of using the Ampere-Maxwell
law is that it enables us to avoid the nonphysical assumption
that the current starts abruptly from nothing at one end of the
wire and disappears abruptly into nothing at the other end.
Instead, we adopt a more realistic model whereby a charge q
exists at one end of the wire and a charge –q exists at the other
end. As the conventional current flows from q to –q and these
charges decrease in magnitude, they produce a displacement
current (that is, a changing electric flux) that makes an essen-
tial contribution to the magnetic field of the wire. Note that
the actual current in the wire from –a to +a is not included
explicitly in the computation of the changing electric flux
through the circuit loop, because all the actual currents are
already accounted for in the first term of the right-hand side
of Eq. (1). This calculation is suitable for use in both lower-
and upper-division E&M courses since it involves only a basic
knowledge of E&M, vector addition, and simple calculus. This
material could serve as another example to students of the re-
markable interplay between the conduction and displacement
current terms in the Ampere-Maxwell law. We now present
the details.
Figure 1 shows a finite length wire lying on the y-axis and
Plane y = y0 where we
calculate the magnetic field
b
Current I B
Charge q at y = -a Charge -q at y = a
Fig. 1. Geometry for calculating the magnetic field due to a finite
wire using Ampere’s law, including the charge terminations that
serve to conserve charge.
DOI: 10.1119/1.4895357 The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 52, October 2014
extending from y = –a to y = a. We calculate the magnetic
field at a distance b from the wire in the plane y = y0. As stated
above, it is unphysical for a current to start from nothing and
end in nothing. So we place a charge q at y = –a and a charge
–q at y = a. The current in the wire is due to charge flowing
from q to –q in the wire. The conventional current in the wire
from y = –a to y = a is then
(2)
The negative sign reflects the fact that q is decreasing with
time.
From symmetry the magnetic field line in the plane y = y0
and distance b from the wire is a circle centered on the wire.
Due to the electric dipole (±q), there is an electric flux passing
through the area bounded by the circle of radius b. This flux
will change with time as the charges decrease in magnitude.
The displacement current term in the Ampere-Maxwell law
tells us that this changing flux contributes to the magnetic
field. So we first calculate the y-component of the electric
field due to the electric dipole in the plane y = y0 at a distance
r from the wire. We call this electric field component Ey(r).
Only this y-component of electric field contributes to the
electric flux. The calculation of Ey(r) is straightforward and
simply involves adding the y-components of the electric fields
due to q and –q. The result is
(3)
The electric flux passing through the flat area bounded by the
circle at r = b in the plane y = y0 is
(4)
The two terms in the integral are readily integrated using
simple algebraic substitutions. The result is
(5)
When q changes, so does . So differentiating Eq. (5) simply
involves differentiating q. Using Eq. (2) we have
(6)
413
 In Eq. (1) we are calculating the magnetic field on the
circle of radius b in the plane y = y0; so the left-hand side of
Eq. (1) is B2pb. Also, the time rate of change of electric flux
is that through the flat area bounded by this circle as given by
Eq. (6). Using this information Eq. (1) becomes
(7)
This is, of course, the same as the result obtained using the
Biot-Savart law. In the limit that a approaches infinity, the
term in the large square brackets approaches 2 and we recover
the well-known result for a very long wire. This makes sense
because under these circumstances, the charges q and –q are
very far away from the plane y = y0 and the change in electric
flux linking the Amperian loop is negligible; only the conduc-
tion current term contributes to the field.
Acknowledgment
I am grateful for helpful technical input from my colleague
Mr. Carlos Mera.
References
1. H. D. Young and R. A. Freedman, University Physics, 13th ed.
(Pearson, San Francisco, 2012), p. 929.
Robert Buschauer earned his BS degree in 1970 from Cal Poly, Pomona,
and his PhD degree in 1978 in Theoretical Plasma Physics from UC Irvine.
Since then he has worked at Hughes Aircraft Co., General Dynamics Corp.,
and Cal Poly, Pomona. He is currently a professor of physics at Cerritos
College in Norwalk, CA.
rbuschauer@cerritos.edu

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414 The Physics Teacher ◆ Vol. 52, October 2014