If a wire carrying current produces magnetic field around it, why its not attracted to nearby metals ? In a general household.

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If a wire carrying current produces magnetic field around it, why its not attracted to nearby metals ? In a general household.

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Anonymous 0 Comments

The magnetic field strength around a current-carrying cable is proportional to the current – this is Ampere’s Law. (It does not depend on the voltage)

Most common household electrics operates at 15 amps or less, and the magnetic field at those currents is too small to have “obvious” effects. Also in most domestic electrics there are usually a pair of wires within the power cord, and as the current flows “out” on one and “back” on the other (equal currents in opposite directions) the external magnetic field cancels out anyway.

The magnetic field close to a single conductor wire carrying a couple of amps is not enough to normally notice, but *is* enough to move a magnetic compass needle – see for example this video:
[https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qwR6527VEEw](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qwR6527VEEw)
(if you do try this experiment yourself, it is important to only use an *alkaline single-use battery*, probably an *AA*, *C*, or *D* cell – and *only touch the wire for a second or so* at a time. **Never** use any kind of rechargeable battery as you’d risk burning yourself or starting a fire)

In welding applications or seriously high power electrics where currents of 100’s amps are flowing it is not unusual to see a cable physically twitching when the current starts or stops, due to magnetic effects. Another Redditor on this thread has probably posted a video.

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