Who discovered that a wire carrying electric current creates a magnetic field?

Who discovered that a wire carrying electric current creates a magnetic field?

• A. Nikola Tesla
• B. Michael Faraday
• C. James Clerk Maxwell
• D. Hans Christian Oersted

Answer: (D)

Electric current creates a magnetic field. Hans Christian Ørsted showed this in 1820 when a compass needle deflected as a wire carried current, revealing that a magnetic field forms around a live conductor. This simple experiment established the direct link between electricity and magnetism and became the foundation of the study of electromagnetism. Faraday’s work later explained how changing magnetic fields can induce electric currents, and Maxwell’s equations mathematically describe how electricity and magnetism are interconnected. Tesla contributed to practical applications of electricity and magnetism, but the specific discovery that a steady current produces a magnetic field comes from Ørsted.

Electric current creates a magnetic field. Hans Christian Ørsted showed this in 1820 when a compass needle deflected as a wire carried current, revealing that a magnetic field forms around a live conductor. This simple experiment established the direct link between electricity and magnetism and became the foundation of the study of electromagnetism. Faraday’s work later explained how changing magnetic fields can induce electric currents, and Maxwell’s equations mathematically describe how electricity and magnetism are interconnected. Tesla contributed to practical applications of electricity and magnetism, but the specific discovery that a steady current produces a magnetic field comes from Ørsted.