Super Simple Motor

Objectives

• Describe the effect of applying electricity to a magnetic object.

Materials

• Per Student:
  Round “neodymium” (NdFeB) magnet
  * Neodymium magnets can be purchased at hardware stores (such as Lee Valley) or office supply stores. Also called rare earth magnet or “supermagnets”
  Steel nail or screw
  D-cell battery
  Pure copper wire (If the wire has iron in it it will be attracted to the magnet and the motor will not work)
  .

Key Questions

• What happens if you stick the nail to the other end of the battery?
• What happens if you turn the magnet upside down?

What To Do

 

 

1. Touch the magnet to the head of the nail, they will stick due to magnetism.
2. Touch the pointy end of the nail to the bottom of the battery. It will stick because the magnet touching the end of the nail transforms the nail itself into a temporary magnet. Let it dangle from the point.
3. With one hand, hold one end of the wire to the top of the battery and with the other hand, hold the other end of the wire to the side of the magnet. The magnet and nail will rotate.

Extensions

• This is called a homopolar motor. Investigate the physics of a homopolar motor in more detail here.