Answer to Question #115030 in Electric Circuits for Yang

Question

A conductor carrying a current is arranged so that current flows south. If a compass is held over the wire (above it, away from the ground), which way will the compass needle be deflected by the magnetic field from the current in the wire?

Answer 1

The direction of the magnetic field can be founded out by right hand thumb rule

Simply stated, the Right Hand Rule says that the magnetic field lines produced by a current-carrying wire will be oriented in the same direction as the curled fingers of a person's right hand (in the “hitchhiking” position), with the thumb pointing in the direction of the current flow.