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

Question

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

In: 477

Answer 1

It does, the magnetic field is just weak and decays quickly with distance. But it is what wire finders use. There is another case where this becomes important. If you have a long extension cord that is stored on a reel, then the magnetic field can induce a counter current in the loops on the reel, causing losses and making the cable heat up. That’s why cable reels usually have different max powers given on the label.