Right vs. Left Hand Rules

by Robert Pritchett

We are not talking about political affiliates of Right and Left, but rather the focus will be on the Left-hand Rule as related to electrical energy flow.

For the longest time, I was taught only the right-hand rule and believed that the left-hand rule was getting short-shrift. I was wrong.

Source: http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/education/tutorials/java/handrules/index.html

The Hendrik Lorentz Force takes the Right Hand Rule up a notch by showing the direction of force of the applied magnetic field - http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/education/tutorials/java/lorentzforce/index.html

There are two Left Hand Rules – one for wire and the other for generators. Electron current flows from negative to positive - http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_left_hand_rule

The John Ambrose Fleming Left Hand Rule takes the 3-fingered approach to describe what happens when charged particles enter a magnetic field - http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/education/tutorials/java/handrules/index.html

David Colarusso provides a great presentation on the right and left-handedness of electrical flow - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zy0VHBXxLU

Ross Sheppard provides an excellent presentation on Magnetism and the Left-hand Rule in his Physics Course - http://www.shep.net/resources/curricular/physics/P30/Unit3/Unit3.html Unit III on Magnetism includes videos on those areas of interest regarding gravity, motor rules and magnetic fields. These videos can also be found on YouTube.

Pelletier Physics also has a few animations online regarding magnetic flow and fields, such as this one on magnetic fields in toroidal coils –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edqGNOrW1GM

http://www.youtube.com/user/PelletierPhysics YouTube Channel

Others can be found on the Animations for Physics and Astronomy –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjcdJ1wSQJI

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=mrg3 YouTube Channel

But the best animation comes from the Sun itself - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edqGNOrW1GM

What blew me away was the visuals regarding electrical waveflows being in a vortex and not in a direct line along a wire. Vortex Energy.