Physics I / Electromagnetic Induction and Faraday's Law
Practice question · Multiple choice

Lenz’s law says the induced current opposes the change producing it. What goes wrong if it reinforced the change instead?

Hints
  1. Follow the feedback loop round twice.
  2. Ask where the extra energy would be coming from.
Show the answer

D. Energy would appear from nothing, so the sign is conservation

Why

Reinforcement would be a runaway. The minus sign in Faraday’s law is not bookkeeping, it is what stops the universe containing free-energy machines.

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