A magnetic field can be used to determine the sign of charge carriers in a current- carrying wire. Consider a wide conducting strip in a magnetic field oriented as shown in Fig. 19.34. The charge carriers are deflected by the magnetic force and accumulate on one side of the strip, giving rise to a measurable voltage across it. (This phenomenon is known as the Hall effect.) If the sign of the charge carriers is unknown (they are either positive charges moving as indicated by the arrows in the figure or negative charges moving in the opposite direction), how does polarity or sign of the measured voltage allow the sign of the charge to be determined? Assume that only one type of charge carrier is responsible for the current.

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B