Fleming's Left Hand Rule and the Right Hand Grip Rule

The Left Hand Rule

Itis well know that a current carrying conductor in a magnetic fieldexperiences a force, and that if a conducting loop of wire movesrelative to a magnetic field, a current is generated. Fleming's LeftHand Rule enables us to calculate the direction of the force in thefirst case and the direction of the field in the second case. This isillustrated below.

In this diagram the twofingers are horizontal at right angles and the tunmb is vertical andat right angles to both. In fact, first finger, second finger andthumb are all at right angles to each other.

The Right Hand Grip Rule

A current also produces amagnetic field. The magnetic field will loop around the conductor. Wecan find the sense in which it loops by gripping the conductorcarrying the current in our right hand. The fingers will point in thedirection of the field. This shown below to the left. We can alsoapply it to solenoids, in a sense, backwards. If the fingers point inthe direction of the current, the thumb will point AGAINST themagnetic field.