In which year did Hans Christian Oersted discover that a compass needle gets deflected when an electric current passes through a metallic wire placed nearby?

Key Points

• 1820 is the year when Hans Christian Oersted discovered that a compass needle gets deflected by an electric current passing through a nearby metallic wire.
• Hans Christian Oersted was a Danish physicist and chemist who is known for this discovery, which showed a direct relationship between electricity and magnetism.
• This experiment laid the foundation for the field of electromagnetism, significantly influencing future scientific research and technological advancements.
• The discovery was a pivotal moment in the study of electromagnetism and led to the development of various technologies like electric motors and generators.

Additional Information

• Hans Christian Oersted's discovery was accidental; he noticed the deflection of the compass needle while preparing for a lecture demonstration.
• This phenomenon demonstrated the fundamental connection between electric currents and magnetic fields, which was later formulated into Ampère's circuital law by André-Marie Ampère.
• Oersted's work was part of the broader 19th-century scientific movement that included contributions from other prominent scientists such as Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell.
• The unit of magnetic field strength, the oersted (Oe), is named in his honor.