Parallel and Antiparallel Currents

Skip to Main Content

Apply

Give

Academic Calendar Academic Catalogs Administration Advising Athletics Career Center Class Schedule

Colleges & Departments Financial Aid Health & Wellness Housing Human Resources Jobs Museum of Natural History

Parking Public Safety Registrar Scholarships Transcripts Tuition Tutoring

Common Searches

Parallel and Antiparallel Currents

Parallel strips of metal hanging from aluminum

PIRA 5H40.10

Thin aluminum foil strips suspended from a horizontal bar as shown are used to demonstrate the interactions of parallel and antiparallel electric currents. Test tube clamps can be used to suspend the foil strips. If a variable 12 V DC supply is used, a current of 3 amps or more will cause very visible motions of the foil strips, primarily due to the low mass of the strips.

The setup shown at left is for antiparallel currents, and the setup at right is for parallel currents . Ask students to use the right hand rule to predict the motion of the wires.