Past exam of the physics 2 paper of the University of Oxford / 2017 / 9 / c / Solution

Put the three wires at $(x,y)=(-d,0),(0,0),(d,0)$ with $d=1\mathrm{cm}$ and each current along $+z$, out of the page. Adding their Biot-Savart law magnetic fields givesFor $y\ne 0$, all three $x$-components have the same sign, so they cannot cancel. On $y=0$, a zero of the remaining component satisfiesExcluding the wire positions themselves, the two and only two finite zeros areThe magnetic field lines circulate counterclockwise about each current near that wire. Far away they circle the combined total current $3I$. The two nulls separate the nearby circulation regions in the original magnetic field line plot below.