electric motors

image by explainthatstuff

We’re finishing off the electricity unit by looking at electric motors.  The page I used in class to help explain how a simple electric motor works is available here.

Here is another nice animation that shows the key parts of an electric motor.  It will stop after a few rotations but just reload the page to see it again.

Real electric motors have a few modifications;

  • they use field coils instead of a bar magnet – the field coils form a strong electromagnet when current passes through them.  The field coils do not rotate.
  • the single rotating coil is replaced by several rotating coils
  • there are more contacts on the commutator – each pair connects to a different rotating coil
  • the brushes are often made from carbon instead of metal – the carbon conducts electricity and can withstand high temperatures.  Carbon also moulds to the shape of the commutator to give a good electrical contact

image by marrrci

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