Ampère's Law
▶︎ Watch it animatedinteractive step-through · ~3 min · optional ⚙︎ Open the appletAmperian Loop Lab · place and orient the loop, commit to the signed enclosed current and whether B factors outAmpere's law states that the circulation of the total magnetic field around any closed path equals $\mu_0$ times the current threading it: $\oint\vec{B}\cdot d\vec{\ell} = \mu_0 I_{\text{enc}}$. It is always true, and it hands you $B$ only when symmetry makes the field constant in magnitude and everywhere tangent along the chosen loop, as it does for an infinite wire, an ideal solenoid, and a toroid. The enclosed current is a signed census: currents piercing along the right-hand thumb count positive, each turn of a coil counts separately, and inside a uniform thick conductor only the fraction $r^2/R^2$ threads the loop. A current loop in a uniform field feels zero net force and a torque $\vec{\tau} = \vec{\mu}\times\vec{B}$ with $\vec{\mu} = NIA\hat{n}$.
Four errors dominate. Erasing an outside current's field from the integrand, when what vanishes is its net circulation and not its field. Factoring $B$ out of the integral around a loop where the field varies, which turns a true statement into a false formula. Miscounting the enclosed current by adding magnitudes without signs, dropping the turn count of a solenoid, or using the full current inside a thick wire instead of the enclosed fraction. And giving a loop in a uniform field a net translational force, or putting maximum torque at the orientation where the torque is actually zero.
The work
3 ways in · any order
Lesson
Ampère's Law
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Separates what Ampere's law always states from the symmetry it needs to be solvable, turns the enclosed current into a signed and turn-weighted census, and settles torque on a current loop.
Diagnostic
10-item topic check
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Ten items spanning the failure modes of this topic: erasing an outside current's field, factoring B out of an integral with no symmetry to justify it, miscounting the enclosed current, and giving a loop in a uniform field a net force instead of a torque. Take it cold to find which one is yours, or after the lesson to confirm it is not.
Targeted Practice
Drill a single misconception
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Pick one of the failure modes you missed and drill it on its own. The round is adaptive: two correct in a row clears it for now and moves you to the next. Two in a row is a checkpoint, not proof: if the error resurfaces later, the misconception comes back.