Biot-Savart law (redirected from Biot-Savart's Law)

Biot-Savart law [¦byō sə¦vär ′lȯ]

(electromagnetism)

A law that gives the intensity of the magnetic field due to a wire carrying a constant electric current.

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Biot-Savart law

A law of physics which states that the magnetic flux density (magnetic induction) near a long, straight conductor is directly proportional to the current in the conductor and inversely proportional to the distance from the conductor. The field near a straight conductor can be found by application of Ampère's law. The magnetic flux density near a long, straight conductor is at every point perpendicular to the plane determined by the point and the line of the conductor. Therefore, the lines of induction are circles with their centers at the conductor. Furthermore, each line of induction is a closed line. This observation concerning flux about a straight conductor may be generalized to include lines of induction due to a conductor of any shape by the statement that every line of induction forms a closed path.