An infinite wire has a circular bend of radius , and carrying a current as shown in the figure. The magnitude of the magnetic field at the origin of the arc is given by:

- A
- B
- C
- D
An infinite wire has a circular bend of radius , and carrying a current as shown in the figure. The magnitude of the magnetic field at the origin of the arc is given by:

Correct answer:C
Standard Method
Given: An infinite wire has a circular bend of radius carrying current . The field is required at the origin .
Find: The magnitude of the magnetic field at .
Use superposition and add the magnetic field contributions of the different parts of the wire.
For the circular arc of angle , the magnetic field at the center is
with
Therefore,
Extracted Solution and Discrepancy Note
Given: the solution states: for the arc with radius and angle , the field at the origin is written, and then the total field is concluded as
Find: The correct option.
The solution explicitly marks The Correct Option is C and concludes
Hence, the correct option is C.
There is an internal inconsistency in the extracted working text because it labels the arc and straight-segment contributions incorrectly, but the final conclusion and the declared correct option both match option C.
Students often use the formula for a full circular loop, which is wrong because the bend is only an arc. Use the arc-field formula with the actual angle instead.
A common error is to add magnetic field contributions from straight segments without checking geometry. First decide whether the origin lies on the line of the segment or whether the segment contributes nonzero field at .
Some students ignore the direction of current around the arc and add magnitudes blindly. Use the right-hand rule for each segment before combining contributions.
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