Question

A current carrying circular conductor placed on a wooden table. An observer holding a compass is looking at it from the top, notices that the south pole of the compass is pointing towards the table. What is the direction of the current in the conductor as seen by the observer?

• A. clockwise
• B. downwards
• C. anticlockwise
• D. upwards

Answer 1

The correct option is C

anticlockwise

The south pole of the compass is pointing towards the table. This means the front face of the coil behaves like a north pole, i.e, the magnetic field lines appear to be coming towards us. It is only possible when the current in the circular wire is in the anticlockwise direction.