Current injection clamps are normally described as a transformer with a single turn secondary, which is all fine and good, but the construction of a transformer is different from a current clamp. Transformers are normally wound such that both the primary and secondary coils are wound around the same core. Seeing that the core is a usually a highly permeable material, nearly all the magnetic field produced by the primary flows through the core. This magnetic field then passes through the secondary coil which is tightly wound on the core and by Faraday's law produces a voltage.

A current clamp on the other hand has a coil on a core which is clamped around a wire. I understand that the wire forms a (sometimes very large) closed loop around the core, but it if the wire passes through the center opening of the core then the magnetic field travels through the secondary loop, but the magnetic field doesn't necessarily act on the wire itself (because the field is contained within the core material). So my questions are:

1. What is the physical mechanism that causes the voltage/current in the secondary. I understand that H field lines are crossing the circuit loops of the coil, but how physically is the current being produced? Is it the magnetic field acting on electrons and making them move? This doesn't seem to make sense to me.

2. Does a current clamp actually induce a current, or does it actually produce a voltage (like a transformer) which then develops a current based on ohm's law?

Current injection clamps are normally described as a transformer with a single turn secondary, which is all fine and good, but the construction of a transformer is different from a current clamp. Transformers are normally wound such that both the primary and secondary coils are wound around the same core. Seeing that the core is a usually a highly permeable material, nearly all the magnetic field produced by the primary flows through the core. This magnetic field then passes through the secondary coil which is tightly wound on the core and by Faraday's law produces a voltage.

A current clamp on the other hand has a coil on a core which is clamped around a wire. I understand that the wire forms a (sometimes very large) closed loop around the core, but it if the wire passes through the center opening of the core then the magnetic field travels through the secondary loop, but the magnetic field doesn't necessarily act on the wire itself (because the field is contained within the core material). So my questions are:

1. What is the physical mechanism that causes the voltage/current in the secondary. I understand that H field lines are crossing the circuit loops of the coil, but how physically is the current being produced? Is it the magnetic field acting on electrons and making them move? This doesn't seem to make sense to me.

2. Does a current clamp actually induce a current, or does it actually produce a voltage (like a transformer) which then develops a current based on ohm's law?

Current injection clamps are normally described as a transformer with a single turn secondary which is all fine and good, but the construction of a transformer is different than a current clamp. Transformers are normally wound such that both the primary and secondary coils are wound around the same core. Seeing that the core is a usually a highly permeable material, nearly all the magnetic field produced by the primary flows through the core. This magnetic field then passes through the secondary coil which is tightly wound on the core and by faraday's law produces a voltage.

A current clamp on the other hand has a coil on a core which is clamped around a wire. I understand that the wire forms a (sometimes very large) closed loop around the core, but it if the wire passes through the center opening of the core then the magnetic field travels through the secondary loop but the magnetic field doesn't not necessarily act on the wire itself (because the field is contained within the core material). So my questions are:

1 - What is the physical mechanism that causes the voltage/current in the secondary. I understand that H field lines are crossing the circuit loops of the coil, but how physically is the current being produced? Is it the magnetic field acting on electrons and making them move? This doesn't seem to make sense to me.

2 - Does a current clamp actually induce a current, or does it actually produce a voltage (like a transformer) which then develops a current based on ohm's law?

Current injection clamps are normally described as a transformer with a single turn secondary, which is all fine and good, but the construction of a transformer is different from a current clamp. Transformers are normally wound such that both the primary and secondary coils are wound around the same core. Seeing that the core is a usually a highly permeable material, nearly all the magnetic field produced by the primary flows through the core. This magnetic field then passes through the secondary coil which is tightly wound on the core and by Faraday's law produces a voltage.

A current clamp on the other hand has a coil on a core which is clamped around a wire. I understand that the wire forms a (sometimes very large) closed loop around the core, but it if the wire passes through the center opening of the core then the magnetic field travels through the secondary loop, but the magnetic field doesn't necessarily act on the wire itself (because the field is contained within the core material). So my questions are:

1. What is the physical mechanism that causes the voltage/current in the secondary. I understand that H field lines are crossing the circuit loops of the coil, but how physically is the current being produced? Is it the magnetic field acting on electrons and making them move? This doesn't seem to make sense to me.

2. Does a current clamp actually induce a current, or does it actually produce a voltage (like a transformer) which then develops a current based on ohm's law?