Fleming's Left-Hand Rule
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Predicting the force with Fleming's left-hand rule
The left-hand rule turns three directions into one prediction: first finger along the magnetic field, second finger along the current, and the thumb at right angles to both gives the direction of the force on the wire. It works whenever the current runs perpendicular to the field — the geometry the rule was built for.
What you know already
Three directions, one hand: the first finger along the field, the second along the current, and the thumb fires out the force. This note drills Fleming's left-hand rule for wires crossing a magnetic field — including the conventional-current trap and what happens when either input flips.
Key points of understanding
- The first finger points along the magnetic field, from north to south.
- The second finger points along the conventional current in the wire.
- The thumb then gives the direction of the force on the wire.
- The three fingers are held at right angles to each other in a left hand.
- The rule predicts the force when the current is perpendicular to the field.
Fleming’s left-hand rule can be used to determine the directions of the force, magnetic field and current
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1.Predicting the force with Fleming's left-hand rule
The left-hand rule turns three directions into one prediction: first finger along the magnetic field, second finger along the current, and the thumb at right angles to both gives the direction of the force on the wire. It works whenever the current runs perpendicular to the field — the geometry the rule was built for.
Fleming’s left-hand rule can be used to determine the directions of the force, magnetic field and current
Guided content from the SME authoring corpus — note rn_g6D8Vm7wK3vwHhTG, pinned at 6312d659ec0d · promoted SyllabAI/syllabai-resources b3caaaa90c5e