When I was about 10 years old, I was given an electric motor kit for Christmas. I had to wind a length of insulated copper wire on the rotor, put together the commutator, and install a small U magnet. I enjoyed the construction experience and with some parental assistance figured out how it worked. Ever since then, I have been curious about these simple artifacts of technology, and this article discusses some of them that I have met in my scientific travels. The small electric motor is a simple piece of technology that is based on mechanics, electricity, and magnetism and is a good mechanism for drawing students into physics.
References
1.
This Page-type motor is in the 1916 catalog of the L. E. Knott Apparatus Co. of Boston on p. 395.
2.
Thomas B. Greenslade
Jr
., “The Rosse telescope
,” Phys. Teach.
36
, 493
–495
(1998
).3.
4.
Stanislaw
Bednarek
, “Showing forces in the terrestrial magnetic field
,” Phys. Teach.
37
, 383
–384
(1999
).5.
Thomas B. Greenslade
Jr
., “The St. Louis motor
,” Phys. Teach.
49
, 424
–425
(2011
).6.
S. A.
Douglass
, “The St. Louis laboratory motor
,” Sch. Sci. Math.
9
, 678
–681
(1909
).7.
Franklin
Miller
Jr. and John A.
Johnson
, “A motor is a generator and vice versa
,” Phys. Teach.
14
, 133
(1976
).8.
Thomas B.
Greenslade
Jr., “Small direct-current electric motors
,” eRittenhouse
27
, 53
–63
(2016
).9.
Thomas B.
Greenslade
Jr., “Devices to demonstrate electromagnetic rotation
,” Phys. Teach.
34
, 412
–416
(1996
).© 2023 Author(s). Published under an exclusive license by American Association of Physics Teachers.
2023
Author(s)
AAPT members receive access to The Physics Teacher and the American Journal of Physics as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.