MOTOR BLOG-POST

Building A Motor

This week in Physics, we learned how to build a very basic motor! The only supplies that we were allowed to use were...

1. A battery
2. Rubber band
3. Copper wire
4. 2 paper clips
5. A magnet

I had an EXTREMELY difficult time creating my motor. I'm not sure if it was a poor connection between the ends of the paperclip and the magnet, or if it was because my copper wire was not scraped the right way, but I was one of the last (possibly the very last) person to get their motor to work in my class. Although, when the loop finally spun, it was very rewarding. I will explain my process.

1. I picked my battery (one that looked new) and got two paper clips
2. I unbent the paperclips and tried to come up with a smart way to form them so that the coil of wire could rest on them without falling off. It took me a couple different tries to get a good design. I finally decided on one that looped around the coil so that it would not fall off.
3. Next, I secured the paperclips with a rubber band (wrapped around twice)
4. Then I took the copper wire and wrapped it around two of my fingers a couple of times leaving about 2 inches on each end.
5. Then, I took the coil and scraped each side so that it could have a good connection
6. Finally, I placed the magnet on the battery directly below (and as close as possible) to the wire
7. And then....... after many tries........ the coil spun!!

Why did this work???

Well, the way in which you scrape the wire is very important. A torque is created which forces the wire to rotate when current (from the magnetic field) pushed the 'current carrying wire' perpendicularly. One side makes the wire turn halfway, and the other side finishes the cycle.