Magnet - right hand rule - direction of compass North

[dandy9]

Homework Statement

A length of wire extends upward through a piece of cardboard, bends around, forming a loop, and extends back down through the cardboard. All that is visible above the surface of the cardboard is this loop of wire. From your perspective, you are looking downward on the piece of cardboard so the loop runs from your left to your right. The loop of wire has a current running through it in a clockwise direction (from left to right above the cardboard). If a compass is placed on the cardboard beneath the loop, in which direction will the N pole of the compass point?

a) It will point toward the right of the monitor.
b) It will point toward the left of the monitor.
c) It will point toward the bottom of the monitor.
d) It will point toward the top of the monitor.

Homework Equations

Right hand rule.

The Attempt at a Solution

I did the right hand rule and pointed my thumb to the right. My fingers were then pointing "out" of the screen. So the answer is either "toward the top of the monitor" or "toward the bottom of the monitor". I think it's toward the bottom, but I'm not sure and can't risk getting this question wrong. Can anyone help me?
Thanks!

 

[Delphi51]

I see others are avoiding this question and it is about to slip off the first page. No wonder; it is quite unclear! Do we have a loop of wire lying in the plane of the cardboard so the "monitor" looking down sees a circle of wire? Or is it a loop standing up perpendicular to the cardboard so the observer sees a line of wire going left to right; likely the loop is completed right to left underneath the cardboard in this scenario. In the first case, the magnetic field would be up toward the monitor or down away from it (depending on whether the current is conventional positive current or electron flow), so none of the choices are correct. Must be the second case! Picture your thumb (left or right hand depending on the type of current) going to the right, fingers wrapped around the wire. For positive current, the fingers go away from you (toward the top of the monitor) under the wire, and toward you above the wire. That should give you the answer, using your class convention for positive/negative current flow.