Electric Motor Workshop

← Explorations

A magnet, a coil, and a current. Open frame, no mystery.

0 RPM · resting

0.00 A · battery 3.0 V

back-EMF 0.00 V

in 0.0 W · out 0.0 W

Try this

Make it run the other way. There are two ways; find both.
Slow time to 0.02x and watch the ammeter blink. What is the commutator doing?
Wire the bulb in series, then grab the rotor and hold it. Why does the bulb flare when the motor stalls?
Throw the switch to generator while it runs. Where does the spinning energy go?
Light the bulb, then the LED, with the same flick. Which is the better deal?
Try the blue LED. Why does it ask for a harder spin than the red one?
Swap in solid slip rings. Why does it refuse to go all the way around?

Drag to orbit · scroll to zoom · Space+drag to pan · hover parts to meet them

The engine arrives in session 2. For now the machine holds still.

Show force arrows Show field lines Strip chart

Battery voltage

0 V3.0 V6 V

Reverse polarity

Coil windings

50 turns · 3.0 Ω · 40 g rotor

Sound: hum and brushes

Or grab a magnet in the scene and slide it along its rail. Like poles facing in = almost no field through the coil.

Clip on the fan blade Generator mode (light + meter)

Generator mode unplugs the battery. The only electricity left is what YOU make by spinning the rotor, and electricity is invisible, so the light exists to prove yours is real. The knife switch in the scene throws the same mode.

Wire the bulb in series (motor mode)

Generator load

The bulb is a heater that happens to glow. It eats power in both directions.

The commutator is the only reason this spins instead of shivering.

A magnet, a coil, and a current. Everything this machine does comes from the push between them. Hover any part to meet it.