A student attempts to "levitate" a piece of current-carrying wire using the Earth's magnetic field (55 T). She uses 12 centimeter of 20 gauge metric wire (d = 2 millimeter). This sample has a mass of 3 g and a resistance of 0.66.
a) In order to pull this off, the magnetic force on the wire must point up. Determine how should she orient the wire, and in which compass direction should the current flow?
b) Determine how much current must run through the wire so that the magnetic force balances the weight of the wire?
c) Find the rate of heat production in the wire (that is, the resistive power). Is this project feasible?