Certain bacteria (such as Aquaspirillum magnetotacticum) tend to swim towards th

Question

Certain bacteria (such as Aquaspirillum magnetotacticum) tend to swim towards the earth's geographic north pole because they contain tiny particles, called magnetosomes, that are sensitive to a magnetic field. If a transmission line carrying 100 A is laid underwater, at what range of distances would the magnetic field from this line be great enough to interfere with the migration of these bacteria? (Assume that a field less than 5.0% of the earth's field would have little effect on the bacteria. Take the earth's field to be 5.0*10^-5 T and ignore the effects of the seawater).

Explanation / Answer

Minimum Magnetic field Strength

Bmin=5%*Bearth

Bmin=(5/100)*(5*10-5)=2.5*10-6 T

Magentic field due to current carrying wire

B=uo*I/2pir

=>r=uo*I /2piB=/(4pi*10-7)*100/2pi*(2.5*10-6)

r=8 m

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