Question

1. For the following statements that you believe do not represent a correct argument, identify, isolate, and explain the part or parts that represent a failure in reasoning. Whenever possible, rewrite the statement to make it a valid argument without any fallacy.

a) If the Magnetic Field at one point in space is null, it is because all the components of the field vector at that point are equal to zero.

b) The Flat Earth Society is a Society that maintains that the earth is flat. One of its members has published the following argument to be analyzed: “If the earth were round, a compass would have to point towards the ground at a certain angle, in a direction that would traverse the earth to really point to magnetic north, which wouldn't make sense.”

Answer 1

a) It cannot be a universally correct statement because all the components need not to be zero , instead if the resultant of the components(due to equal in magnitude and opposite in direction) at any point is zero then also we can have zero magnetic field.

b) This statement is incorrect because magnetic north of the earth is nearly in same direction as the geographic north. So on the surface the magnetic field runs along the surface of the earth and therefore, compass will point in the geographically north direction.