you are on board a ship. A lighting bolt strikes your ship and you see it strike your fork on the table. but the fork isn't magnetised. instead, it is the spoon and knife which are magnetised. their handles have reverse polarities. why are steel cutleries arranged in a certain orientation not magnetised by a huge electric current?
2007-06-09 19:46:42 · 3 answers · asked by destinysapphire99 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Assuming the spoon and fork are on either side of the fork then the current from the strike travelled along the fork generating a magnetic field around it. The field will have passed though the adjacent cutlery in opposite directions (Use the right hand rule) causing the resulting residual magnetism to be in opposite directions.
2007-06-09 22:39:16 · answer #1 · answered by Mike C 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unless you give the actual drawing of the orientation, it is difficult to explain. One possible reason could be that the current passing through the fork sets up a strong magnetic field which magnetises the other steel objects in the vicinity. Look at the passing of electricity through a conductor and the magnetic field set up.
2007-06-10 02:54:17 · answer #2 · answered by Swamy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I was unaware of this peculiarity, perhaps some of the cutlery is made of stainless steel which is non magnetic.
2007-06-14 09:44:46 · answer #3 · answered by johnandeileen2000 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋