Question

Similarities of Biot-Savart's law and Coulomb's law for the electrostatics are
I. both are long range and inversely proportional to the square of distance from the source to the point of interest.
II. both are linear in source.
III. both are produced by scalar sources.
IV. both follow principle of superposition.

• A. I, II and III
• B. II, III and IV
• C. I, II and IV
• D. I, III and IV

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

The Biot-Savart's law for the magnetic field has certain similarities as well as differences with the Coulomb's law for the electrostatic field. Some of these are :
(i) Both are long range, since both depend inversly on the square of distance from the source to the point of interest. The principle of superposition applies to both fields. In this connection, note that the magnetic field is linear in the source $I d l$ just as the electrostatic field is linear in its source the electric charge.
(ii) The electrostatic field is produced by a scalar source, namely, the electric charge. The magnetic field is produced by a vector source $I d l$.