An experimental confirmation of longitudinal electrodynamic forces

According to the conventional views of electromagnetic theory, as these are expressed in the Lorentz force law, all the forces which act on a current carrying metallic conductor are perpendicular to the current streamlines. H owever, over the years, from Ampere through Maxwell until the present day, there have been persistent claims that when current flows in a metallic con ductor, there are mechanical forces acting along current streamlines which subject the conductor to tensile stress, and which are therefore capable of performing work in the direction of current flow. The problem of substanti ating these claims has always lain in the difficulty of designing an experi ment in which the effects are unambiguously demonstrated. The present paper describes an experiment which to a large extent removes these ambiguities, and which provides a compelling novel demonstration of forces acting along current streamlines. A force calculation based on Ampere's: original elect rodynamic force law is found to be consistent with the observed behaviour.