Magnetic field lines form in concentric circles around a cylindrical current-carrying conductor, such as a length of wire. The direction of such a magnetic field can be determined by using the "right hand grip rule" (see figure at right). The strength of the magnetic field decreases with distance from the wire. (For an infinite length wire the strength is inversely proportional to the distance.) Bending a current-carrying wire into a loop concentrates the magnetic field inside the loop while weakening it outside. Bending a wire into multiple closely spaced loops to form a coil or "solenoid" enhances this effect. A device so
Current density law (one of Maxwell's equations), which relates current density to magnetic field. In special relativity theory, charge and current are combined into a 4-vector. Charge carriers which are free to move constitute a free current density, which are given by expressions such as those in this section. Electric current is a coarse, average quantity that tells what is happening in an entire wire. At position r at time "t", the "distribution" of charge flowing is described by the current density: where J(r, "t") is the current density vector, v(r, "t") is the particles' average drift velocity (SI unit: m∙s), and