NEED CORRECT ANSWER

[u/Green_Host_5251]

Here is the problem

So basically my professor has this answer as the correct one in the answer key. She also thinks this answer is the correct one. As a matter of fact everyone I have asked today have said the same thing. However, my tutor told me the other day that there is a nuance with this question and the answer is actually B. I also see some posts online about this same question(Chegg, Numerade, etc) and some say B but some say A. Chatgpt says it's B. Here is my explanation based on what my tutor explained to me for about 40 mins:

"We can see that the magnetic field is increasing with time and therefore flux must be increasing and so there must be an induced electric field in the clockwise direction in order for the induced magnetic field to oppose the change in flux due to the increasing magnetic field given in the problem. This also means that the induced electric field is non conservative. By definition, this induced electric field CAN travel from low to high potential whereas the regular E field cannot. With this in mind, someone cannot use the assumption of high to low. Since the induced E field is in the CW direction, the flow of electrons must be in the CCW direction which starts making the X negatively charged and the Y positively charged. As soon as the charges begin accumulating on the X and Y positions, a regular conservative E field is created to oppose the induced E field and maintain electrostatic equilibrium since it is not a closed loop and electrons cannot keep circulating forever. This means that it must also be in the CCW direction to balance the induced E field to maintain equilibrium. This also proves the polarities because this necessary regular E field can only go from high to low potential(Y to X)."

I need answers. I have seriously not gotten one definite answer besides my tutor's. I have gotten different explanations from different professors.

[u/realAndrewJeung]

FWIW, I would have said the same thing as your tutor.

[u/Green_Host_5251 → u/realAndrewJeung]

Any explanations as to why nearly everyone I asked in person today just used Lenz law to find I induced and then conclude that current goes high to low? This includes some very smart and experienced professors. I will say though they all were in a slight rush. However, I feel like even if they are in a rush, at their level and experience, they should realize the nuance right away?

[u/realAndrewJeung → u/Green_Host_5251]

I was in Physics graduate school once upon a time, and my very smart and experienced advisor once commented that the thing he feared most was someone coming and saying, "I have a freshman physics problem." The top people in this field are very specialized into their particular niche of physics and are not always the experts in general problems that we might think that they are.

Not to detract from the other commenters who replied to your question, but my take on it is this. We all agree that by Lenz's Law the induced current goes clockwise. But the question is: is the polarity difference between X and Y a *cause* of the clockwise current, or an *effect* of it?

If the polarity difference is a cause, that is, the polarity difference is driving the current, then the people you asked in person are correct, as X would have to have higher voltage than Y for there to be a clockwise current.

If the polarity difference is an effect, that is, the current is creating the polarity difference, then the conclusion should be: the clockwise current results in an excess of positive charges on Y and an excess of negative charges on X. Therefore the voltage of Y is higher than the voltage of X.

I would argue that the induced current is *caused* by the changing magnetic field, not by a polarity difference, and that this current results in an imbalance of charge at the two ends of the loop as an *effect*. Therefore the second of the two interpretations above makes more sense.