🧲 Lorentz Force Calculator
Calculate the Lorentz force on a charged particle in electric and magnetic fields.
The Lorentz Force
The Lorentz force describes the combined electric and magnetic force on a charged particle: F = q(E + v×B). The magnetic component has magnitude FB = qvBsinθ, where θ is the angle between the velocity and the magnetic field, and it acts perpendicular to both v and B. The electric component is simply FE = qE, acting along the field direction.
This calculator reports each component separately and combines them as an overall magnitude assuming they act as independent (orthogonal) contributions, a simplification useful for comparing relative strength; the exact vector direction of the combined force depends on the specific geometry of E, B, and v in three dimensions. The Lorentz force is the fundamental principle behind electric motors, mass spectrometers, and particle accelerators.