In 18 years of my life, I can't believe that until now I didn't know or care to know how an electric motor works. I know there are more out there than just me.
It’s very easy to take the everyday electric motor for granted. Some may not even think much of it; they just know what it does. It may be small in your but it’s very intricate. Some common places where you will find an electric motor include table saws, wheel chairs, and electric vehicles, which are just starting to take off. Electric sports cars can out accelerate a Ferrari. Here’s how a DC electric motor works: When the coil is powered, a magnetic field is created around the armature (or stator). The left side of the armature is pushed away from the magnet on the same side, and drawn towards the right, which causes rotation. The armature continues to rotate, until it becomes horizontally aligned. When the armature is horizontal, the commutator, the current changes direction through the coil, and this reverses the magnetic field. This process repeats.
The whole process is based on the rotating magnetic field principle, which was first though up by Nikola Tesla. An easier way to look at it would be two magnets opposite each other with opposite charges. Between these two magnets is a plate that rotates side-by-side from a magnetic field. It’s simple when you think about it, but the process is also very complicating, and has to be very precise for it to work. Now this is a very basic view on electric motors, but it’s better than not knowing what it is that is doing that work for you all the time
Brandon Anderson writes for Berkshire Custom Coating, a powder coating facility in Berkshire County. An exciting new development, the ability to use a fluidized bed to coat stators and armatures, sparks up new reasons for promotion. www.berkshirecustomcoatings.com/electrostaticfluidbed.htm
