The World's Simplest Electric Motor

Four simple objects make a small motor

Author: supermagnete, Uster, [email protected]

Online since: 11/11/2007, Number of visits: 2536809

Table of Contents

Homopolar motor with rotating magnet

Simple electric motor with rotating magnet

An experiment was reported in the magazine Physik in unserer Zeit (physics of our time) that completely amazed everyone here at supermagnete.nl. Just when we were coming to terms with our fascination for our own magnets, we learned that it would be possible to build a small electric motor (homopolar motor) with one of our magnets and only 3 other components. A mere 5 minutes later, we had recreated the motor and could not stop ourselves from spinning the magnets. An incredible phenomenon!

Required material

1 iron screw
1 alkaline battery
1 piece stripped copper strand
1 disc magnet of your choice, e.g. S-15-08-N

The sphere magnet rotates on the electric motor

Sphere magnet K-19-C

Assembly

Connect the head of the screw with the disc magnet
Connect the tip of the screw with the negative pole (lower side) of the battery.
With the index finger, press the one bared side of the cord onto the positive pole (see photo below).
Grab the cord with the other hand and touch the magnet with the free end of the cord on the outer side

It worked best when we used a disc magnet with a diameter of at least 8 mm and a height of at least 3 mm. It definitely is more fun to do this experiment with larger magnets. If you already own a neodymium disc magnet, give it a try. The experiment also works with the rod and sphere magnets.

For Advanced Users
Endless variations are possible. Here again, a ball K-19-C is brought into rotation. This is accomplished with a double tetrahedron made of connected rod magnets and steel spheres that rotates at an amazing speed.

Tips and Tricks

You can't get the magnet to rotate? The most important thing, naturally, is that the circuit is closed. Make sure that the tip of the screw is in direct contact with the underside of the battery. During your first attempts, use larger magnets - success is usually easier to achieve with these.
The screw wobbles? You have probably used a screw with a crooked tip. File the tip until it is straight or try another screw.
My rotating sculpture is too heavy; the magnetic pull is not strong enough to hold onto the battery. Connect the battery and screw with a small sphere magnet, for example the K-08-C (shown in the last photo above).
Tip for the lesson [from our customer Michael Sexauer]: "It's particularly impressive, and also visible to those students sitting in the back row, when a paper pinwheel is attached to the magnets. You get an instant fan!"

pdf file

We have received permission from Wiley-VCH Verlag in Weinheim to publish the article (in German) on our website.

Homopolar motor with rotating wire

Materials needed for the homopolar motor

Addition from customer Maarten Duijnstee, Rotterdam (Netherlands):

Maarten Duijnstee, Physics Professor from Rotterdam, sent us an instructional experiment with a very simple electromagnetic motor and writes:

The homopolar motor is one of my favourite SuperMagnet-experiments. No soldering necessary, and the rotor can be formed out of a single piece of copper wire. Even children as young as 8 can make it.

Material

1 disc magnet 15 x 8 mm
1 normal AA battery
30 cm copper wire with 1mm diameter, 30 cm long for the wire loop
a small bowl with approximately 1 cm of water (optional, to ensure contact)

Tip: The copper wire can be made from a normal electrical cable with the isolation removed.

Homopolar motor with battery, copper wire, and magnet

Instructions
1) First, form the circular portion of the wire loop by wrapping the wire around the magnet (one and a half wrappings). You can also use the battery to form the circular portion but you must be careful not to wrap too tightly or the loop won't fit over the somewhat larger magnet.

2) Bend the remainder of the wire into the shape shown in the photo. Then form the loop spike on which the battery will be placed.

The dimensions of the finished loop: 6 cm tall, 4,5 cm wide.

3) Place the magnet on the negative pole of the battery. If necessary you can make a small dent in the positive pole of the battery so that the spike can be better centered on it.

Physical background

The homopolar motor is a nice experiment to demonstrate the so-called Lorentz force. This occurs when an electrically charged conductor is placed in a magnetic field. The direction in which the motor turns indicates where the north and south poles of the magnet are to be found.

Articles used

S-15-08-N

Disc magnet Ø 15 mm, height 8 mm, holds approx. 6,2 kg, neodymium, N42, nickel-plated

	1 pc.	2,71 EUR ea.*
from	3 pcs.	2,37 EUR ea.*
from	10 pcs.	2,07 EUR ea.*
from	20 pcs.	1,93 EUR ea.*
from	40 pcs.	1,80 EUR ea.*
Ask for a rebate from 350 pcs.

Available: 37 131 pcs.

K-19-C

Sphere magnet Ø 19 mm, holds approx. 4,9 kg, neodymium, N38, chrome-plated

	5 pcs.	6,30 EUR ea.*
from	15 pcs.	5,72 EUR ea.*
from	40 pcs.	5,30 EUR ea.*
from	80 pcs.	5,04 EUR ea.*
Ask for a rebate from 450 pcs.

Available: 3 985 pcs.

K-08-C

Sphere magnet Ø 8 mm, holds approx. 850 g, neodymium, N38, chrome-plated

	10 pcs.	0,97 EUR ea.*
from	40 pcs.	0,82 EUR ea.*
from	80 pcs.	0,76 EUR ea.*
from	160 pcs.	0,71 EUR ea.*
Ask for a rebate from 800 pcs.

Available: 3 080 pcs.

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