Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/section-b/10/b/solution

Choose along the electric current, upward normal to the sheet, and to complete a right-handed frame. In the interior region far from its edges, treat the sheet as infinite in its plane. Its surface current density is
Reflection and translational symmetry make the magnetic field parallel to the sheet, perpendicular to its current, and equal in magnitude with opposite direction above and below. Choose an Ampère's circuital law rectangle with length along , straddling the full thickness. The two long sides each contribute with the same sign; on the vertical sides since is horizontal. The enclosed electric current is . Thus
The right-hand rule fixes the directions:
The current density inside the finite-thickness conductor is , so integrating through thickness gives the same . These are exterior fields in the broad-sheet approximation, not exact finite-width edge fields.

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