Thursday 2 November 2017

electromagnetism - Is there an intuitive explanation for why Lorentz force is perpendicular to a particle's velocity and the magnetic field?


The Lorentz force on a charged particle is perpendicular to the particle's velocity and the magnetic field it's moving through. This is obvious from the equation:


$$ \mathbf{F} = q\mathbf{v} \times \mathbf{B} $$



Is there an intuitive explanation for this behavior? Every explanation I've seen simply points at the equation and leaves it at that.


I can accept mathematically why $\mathbf{F}$ will be perpendicular to $\mathbf{v}$ and $\mathbf{B}$ (assuming the equation is correct, which it is of course). But that doesn't help me picture what's fundamentally going on.


Trying to create an analogy with common experiences seems useless; if I were running north through a west-flowing "field" of some sort, I wouldn't expect to suddenly go flying into the sky.


I'm hoping there's a way to visualize the reason for this behavior without a deep understanding of advanced theory. Unfortunately, my searching for an explanation makes it seem like something one just has to accept as bizarre until several more years of study.




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