The distortion of the lines of flow of an electric current in a thin metal plate by the action of a magnetic field was discovered in 1879. Hall attributed this to the action of the magnetic field on the molecular currents in the metal film, which were deflected to one side or the other and accompanied by a corresponding twist of the equipotential lines. This explanation did not pass without criticism, and another theory of the effect found by Hall was published in 1884. In that paper the author seeks to explain the effect by assuming a combination of certain mechanical strains and Peltier effects, a thermo-electric current being set up between the strained and the unstrained portions. The effect of such strain was to produce a reverse effect in some metals, and these were precisely the metals for which the Hall effect was found to reverse. Aluminium was the only exception. In other respects, however, as shown by Hall in a later paper, Bidwell's theory did not stand the test of experiment, and the results lend no support to his theory, while they are in complete accordance withe the explanation that the molecular currents are disturbed by the action of the magnetic field. On the electron theory of metallic conduction, the mechanism of the Hall effect is more obvious, but at present no satisfactory explanation of the reversal found in some metals is known. Further experiments have made it clear that there is a real deflection of the elementary currents, due to the application of the magnetic field, independent of any effect due to strain.
Note on the Magnetic Field Due to an Electric Current in a Straight Wire