College Physics 10th Edition by Raymond Serway,Chris Vuille

Exercise 46

Neurons in our bodies carry weak currents that produce detectable magnetic fields. A technique called magnetoencephalography , or MEG, is used to study electrical activity in the brain using this concept. This technique is capable of detecting magnetic fields as weak as 1.0 × 10 15 T. Model the neuron as a long wire carrying a current and find the current it must carry to produce a field of this magnitude at a distance of 4.0 cm from the neuron.