In the first part of the class we'll make some observations about a bar magnet interacting with a coil of wire. It helps to have some idea about what the magnetic flux through the coil looks like when the magnet is at different positions. Note that the magnetic flux peaks when the magnet is in the center of the coil.

In the simulation positive flux corresponds to magnetic field lines passing through the coil in what direction?

1. to the left
2. to the right

Outside a bar magnet magnetic field comes out of the north pole and goes into the south pole. With the bar magnet oriented as shown in the simulation the field lines passing through the coil point to the left at all times. The graph is positive at all times, so to the left is positive here.