Motor Blog

In class today, we learned how to build motor. Motors are used in our every day lives and it is therefore important to understand what it is. A simple motor consist of a battery, copper wire and a magnet. In class today we were given a rubber band, two paper clips, a long strand of copper wire, a battery and a magnet. The goal of this lab was to make the copper wire spin. This is accomplished by constructing a motor. The two paper clips are placed at each side of the battery and suspend the loop of copper wire over the magnet. The paper clips create a circuit that is closed when the copper wire is added. The magnet is placed below the copper wire, on top of the battery. When building this motor it is important to suspend the copper wire just over the magnet, not touching. When a current is sent through the copper wire, the magnetic field produced by the magnet, causes a force on the moving electrons. This is similar to cosmic rays trying to enter the earths atmosphere. The cosmic rays bounce off the earths atmosphere because it is perpendicular to the earth magnetic field. The electrons in the copper wire and deflected by the magnetic field since they are perpendicular  If the copper wire was parallel, it would not feel a force from the magnet. The magnet causes the copper wire to spin as long as there is a current running through the wire. It is vital to scrap the ends o the copper wire in a specific way. We scrap the copper wire to allow electrons to flow and to make the copper wire spin in a certain way. only one side of the copper wire is scrapped. Imagine the wire suspended over the magnet by the paperclips. The current goes through one side of the copper wire and is forced by the magnet to spin. If electrons went through the entire copper wire, it would spin back and forth since it would experience two equal and opposite forces.

A motor works because the moving electrons in the copper wire, experience a force from the magnet's magnetic field. This occurs because the copper wire is perpendicular to the magnetic field. The paper clips are used to suspend the wire and to complete the current from the battery to the wire. The rubber band is used to hold these two paperclips in place. motors are used in our everyday lives. It is used in our cars, in fans, in lawnmowers, practically anything. You can attach a fan blade on the end of the wire and create a fan. Its that simple!!