I'm a bit confused about what effect the self-induced magnetic field that is induced by current has on the current itself.

My understanding is that all current will induce a magnetic field. This field will encircle the conducting material that the current is travelling in (assuming we're talking about a simple wire, not a coil). My question is, what effect does this magnetic field have on the motion of current inside the conductor? Doing the math, it seems to me that since the magnetic field will be perpendicular to the current at any given point, and the force that is felt by the current is perpendicular to both the current and the magnetic field, you get circular motion for the individual electrons. But how does this work with DC vs. AC current?

Does the self-induced magnetic field not have a huge effect on the motion of current by virtue of it being self-induced or is it so small that it's insignificant (hence the use of coils of wire in inductors)?

Thanks for your help.

 

There is the well-known phenomenon of "skin effect" in conductors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_effect

 

Gotcha, thanks!