Building an Electric Motor

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Building an Electric Motor

Objective
The objective of this project is to build a simple electric motor from scratch.

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Science Fair Project Guide Electricity & Electronics Project Ideas

Introduction
Electric motors are everywhere; even your computer has electric motors to power its cooling fans and hard disks. Building a simple DC electric motor is a great way to learn how they work, and it's really fun to watch your creation spin.

Project Summary
Difficulty 5 Short (several days) None Readily available Very Low (under $20) The motors described below are meant to be powered by batteries, and they are entirely safe when done so. Never power them with AC current from a wall outlet. Not only won't they work, they could be dangerous.

Terms, Concepts and Questions to Start Background Research

To do an experiment in this area, you should do research that enables you to understand the following terms and concepts: armature or rotor, commutator, brushes, field magnet, electromagnet, and the operating principles of a DC motor. More advanced students will also want to study: right-hand rule, induction, and back EMF.

Time required Prerequisites Material Availability Cost

Safety

Sponsor
Sponsored by generous support from AMD

Bibliography
Here are some resources to get you started: How Electric Motors Work: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/motor.htm Simple Electric Motors: http://www.simplemotor.com/ Find instructions for the simple motor described below at any of these sites: http://www.scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/electro/electro.html#motor http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/stripped_down_motor.html http://fly.hiwaay.net/~palmer/motor.html

Experimental Procedure

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Building an Electric Motor

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Building an electric motor in 10 minutes. The single brush motor. A bigger motor. The double brush improvement. A 10 minute motor with no magnet. Fun with high voltage. A high voltage motor in 5 minutes A rotary high voltage motor A simple homemade Van de Graaff generator A very simple ion motor A railgun in 10 minutes

A motor in 10 minutes
Back in the 1960's my father taught me how to make the little electric motor we will make here. Sometime in the 1980's I saw a description of it in the magazine "Physics Teacher". Lately I have seen it described as Beakman's motor, after the science oriented TV show on which it recently appeared. The motor is simply a battery, a magnet, and a small coil of wire you make yourself. There is a secret to making it (which I will of course share with you) which is at the same time clever and delightfully simple. What you will need: A battery holder, such as Radio Shack #270-402 (holds a "C" cell) or #270-403 (holds a "D" cell). A battery to fit the holder. A magnet such as Radio Shack #64-1877, #641895, #64-1883, #64-1879, or #64-1888. Some magnet wire such as Radio Shack #2781345. We want enamel coated 22 gauge (or thicker) wire. We will only need about a yard of wire, so the Radio Shack package will make a dozen motors or more. Some heavier wire such as Radio Shack #2781217 or #278-1216. We want bare wire of 18 or 20 gauge, so we will be removing the plastic insulation from the wires listed above. We will need less than a foot of this wire per motor.

A quicky motor
We start by winding the armature, the part of the motor that

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Make sure you scroll to the bottom of the above window if you're not seeing the complete instructions. The source for the above experimental procedure is Science Toys You Can Make with Your Kids (Field, 2002). If you are having problems, try the following: "Give the coil a spin to start it turning. If it doesn't keep spinning on its own, check to make sure that the coil assembly is well balanced when spinning, that the enamel has been thoroughly scraped off if enameled wire has been used [you'll see a slight change in color; the bare copper will be slightly brighter than the enameled copper], ... and that the coil and the magnet are close to each other but do not hit each other. You might also try adjusting the distance separating the cradles [armature supports]: This may affect the quality of the contact between the coil and the cradles [armature supports]." (Exploratorium, date unknown)

Variations
Building a motor is your first step, to make a good science fair experiment, you should investigate some of the following questions: What is the effect on the motor of changing the battery voltage? "Try making different shaped coils and seeing how they work. Is the circle the best shape? Try squares, ovals, etc. Make a display showing each of the coils you tried with a short summary of the results underneath them" (Palmer, date unknown). "Turn the coil slowly by hand and feel the magnetic attraction at each position of the coil. Make drawings showing the different coil positions and describe how the attractions vary at each position" (Palmer, date unknown). For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Electricity & Electronics Project Ideas

Credits
Field, S. Q., 2002. "Science Toys You Can Make with Your Kids," SciToys.com [accessed November 21, 2004] http://www.scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/electro/electro.html#motor. Exploratorium, date unknown. "Science Snacks: Stripped Down Motor," The Exploratorium [accessed November 21, 2004] http://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/stripped_down_motor.html. Palmer, C.M., date unknown. "Beakman's Electric Motor," [accessed November 21, 2004] http://fly.hiwaay.net/~palmer/motor.html.

Last edit date: 2005-06-01 10:00:00

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