• Puzzle solutions are due by 9:00 AM on Monday of each week.
• Puzzles are worth 5 points of extra credit each.
• Answers must be accompanied by valid reasoning. Just like the tests, the answer alone isn't enough!
• Each week, the first student to submit a correct answer will recieve the stylish 251 T-shirt.
• Previous winners get a "virtual t-shirt." No shirt, but a chance to win a prize with actual value at the end of the semester (often a book, or maybe software).
• Please enter your solution in the text area at the bottom of this page. DON'T FORGET TO GIVE YOUR NAME!

The figure above shows a piece of flexible wire lying on a frictionless table top. The wire can slide around and change its shape freely, but it cannot move perpendicular to the table.

Part a
If a current were to begin to flow counterclockwise in the wire which of the following would happen?

1. The wire would tend to stretch out into a circle
2. The wire would contract down to a tangled mess
3. Nothing
4. There is not enough information to tell.

Don't forget to explain your answer as clearly as possible.