Section 8: open-ended You wake as if in a dream. All is white, all is cold. It c

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Section 8: open-ended You wake as if in a dream. All is white, all is cold. It comes back slowly, the plans, the plane, the explosion. You were on an expedition to the Earth's polar region. But which one, north or south? You can't remember! You find the debris field of the plane. Your oscilloscope, luckily in one piece, as well as your portable diesel generator (to run your oscilloscope). From the wrecked engine, you take a solenoid. In unlabeled ceramic magnets from the icy ground before they are covered by the falling snow and lost. A magnet could be used to make a compass if only you knew which end was the north magnetic pole! A compass is your only chance to figure out where on earth you are and then how to proceed! your pocket (of course!), some wires and alligator clips. You rescue some cheap Use your oscilloscope and solenoid (and wires) to devise a way to determine the north magnetic pole of an unlabeled magnet. You are allowed to "cheat" by talking to other groups for ideas, but are not allowed to "cheat" by just stating an answer you may already know, looking it up online or asking your TA. Below you are given three prompts: hypothesizing/planning, observations/data, calculations/conclusion. Your job is to figure out the answer using these prompts as your problem-solving model. In the event that you should run out of time, you may not discover the correct answer, but you should make an attempt at each prompt. Grades are based on honest effort. Your open-ended solution should probably include some of the following items: sketches of circuit diagrams, tables of data, calculations, recorded observations, random ideas, etc. Write at the prompts on the following page

Explanation / Answer

As we are provided with an unlabeled bar magnet, solenoid and portable diesel generator ( assuming to be in working condition after the crash ).
Hypothesizing/planning: By passing current to the solenoid and applying the right hand curl rule one can easily determine the magnetic pole in the solenoid, as the north pole will develop in the direction of the thumb and the current will follow through the coil along the direction of the coil and be placing the bar magnet near the solenoid and observing the bar magnet.
Observations/data: There are two different possibilities:
1. North pole of the solenoid can get attracted to the bar magnet: This indicates the bar magnet is of opposite pole
2. North pole of the solenoid can move apart: this indicates the bar magnet is of the same pole.
Calculations/conclusion: The above observation can help us to ascertain the pole of the bar magnet as we all know the opposite pole of the magnet attracts each other whereas the opposite pole repel each other.

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