To solve the problem below, you must write a clear and convincing justification

Question

To solve the problem below, you must write a clear and convincing justification for accepting one of the possible answer choices as the best or most appropriate and for rejecting other choices as less appropriate. Your reasons for rejecting choices are just as important as your reasons for choosing the best answer. A person holds a small compass near a long, straight wire that is carrying a current, but detects no deflection of the compass needle and therefore concludes that there is no magnetic field near the wire. Which of the following statements is most likely the assumption made by the person to arrive at this conclusion? The wire is carrying a current. Any magnetic field due to a current in a wire is much greater than the earth's magnetic field. The wire is at least several meters long. There is no deflection of the compass needle near the wire. Current has been flowing through the wire for an extended period of time.

Explanation / Answer

The answer is D Here the explanations for them: a) This isn't an assumption, as it is stated in the problem "Straight wire that is carrying a current" b) This is not true. The compass works by aligning with Earth's magnetic field. If there is no movement, then it should be the other way around where the earth's magnetic field is too large compared to the one generated by the current in teh wire c) has nothing to do with the conclusion. The length of the wire does not affect the magnetic field it generates d) The reason why he thinks there is no magnetic field in the wire is because he doesn't see the compass needle move at all. The needle will always point in the direction of the magnetic field and hence when it didn't move, he assumed that there was no magnetic field to begin with and hence D is the answer. e) the length of time a current flows has no effect on the magnetic field as long as it is still flowing. This would only be an issue if it was say a limited source of current hope it helps

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