A student brought this up in class yesterday when we were doing Oersted's
experiment with wires and compasses to see the magnetic fields created by
wires. He said that he (or his family) has a boat with a compass. The
compass has a light in it so you can see it at night. He asked if the
wire carrying current to the light (and I guess the filament itself)
would generate a field that would disrupt the compass. The question made
sense.
Doesthe wire effect the compass? If not, how is it avoided? Is it just
small enough to ignore?
Thanks in advance for any comments!
Jonathan Gillis
Enloe High School
Raleigh, NC
gillis@avalon.nando.net