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How to Build a Basic Motor Using Electromagnets

Electromagnets can run simple motors or suspend trains above tracks, as is the case with the latest bullet trains in Germany and Japan. Electromagnets are magnets that run on electricity. An electric current makes a magnetic field with an attraction and repulsion that can be altered depending on the amount of electric current applied. Simple materials at home can make an electromagnet run a motor using the same principles of the massive electromagnets in use today.

Things You'll Need

Drywall screw
1.5-volt alkaline cell battery
Plain copper wire
Neodymium disk magnet
Safety glasses
Rubber gloves

Instructions

- 1
  Put on a pair of safety glasses and rubber gloves. The rubber gloves can be the kind used to wash dishes. Affix the head of a screw and a neodymium disk magnet together. They will attract by magnetism and stick together. The pointed end of the screw will be facing up from the magnet.
- 2
  Turn a 1.5-volt alkaline cell battery upside down so that the raised end (the positive end) is pointed down and touches the point of the screw. The tip of the screw will hold to the battery by magnetism.
- 3
  Bend a 6-inch piece of copper wire into a half loop. Press one end of the copper wire to the flat side (the negative end) of the upside down battery. You will be able to hold the battery and the copper wire together with one hand.
- 4
  While pressing the battery and the wire with one hand, take your other hand and touch the unattached end of the wire to the magnet. A simple motor is created that can be seen as the spinning magnet and screw. It is extremely unstable however, and the screw, which is spinning at approximately 10,000 revolutions per minute, can fly off.

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