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The Simplest Motor?

The Simplest Motor? 4111 Connecticut Trail, Crystal Lake, IL 60012 fizzforfun@aol.com Gems ittle The Simplest Motor? his motor consists of four simple parts: a cylindrical "neodymium" (NdFeB) magnet,1 a steel nail, a D-cell battery, and a short piece of (nonferromagnetic) wire. It's amazingly easy to put together and runs beautifully every time. Just assemble the pieces as shown in Fig. 1 (the magnet sticks to the head of the nail and the tip of the magnetized nail is attracted to the ferromagnetic bottom of the battery). Now, hold one end of the wire to the top of the battery and touch the other end to the side of the magnet. A current flows through (and/or along the surface of ) the magnet as shown in Fig. 2. The charge carriers moving in a magnetic field experience a force whose direction is given by the right-hand rule. This direction defines the sense of rotation of the motor. The device is called a homopolar motor.2 http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The Physics Teacher American Association of Physics Teachers

The Simplest Motor?

The Physics Teacher , Volume 42 (9) – Dec 1, 2004

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References (1)

Publisher
American Association of Physics Teachers
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 American Association of Physics Teachers
ISSN
0031-921X
DOI
10.1119/1.1828728
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

4111 Connecticut Trail, Crystal Lake, IL 60012 fizzforfun@aol.com Gems ittle The Simplest Motor? his motor consists of four simple parts: a cylindrical "neodymium" (NdFeB) magnet,1 a steel nail, a D-cell battery, and a short piece of (nonferromagnetic) wire. It's amazingly easy to put together and runs beautifully every time. Just assemble the pieces as shown in Fig. 1 (the magnet sticks to the head of the nail and the tip of the magnetized nail is attracted to the ferromagnetic bottom of the battery). Now, hold one end of the wire to the top of the battery and touch the other end to the side of the magnet. A current flows through (and/or along the surface of ) the magnet as shown in Fig. 2. The charge carriers moving in a magnetic field experience a force whose direction is given by the right-hand rule. This direction defines the sense of rotation of the motor. The device is called a homopolar motor.2

Journal

The Physics TeacherAmerican Association of Physics Teachers

Published: Dec 1, 2004

Keywords: motor drives; magnets; ferromagnetic materials; physics education; physics fundamentals

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