Motor Project Part 1

     For this post i will talk about some of the materials needed for this project as well as how to build it. This project took about a day and a half to build and also to fix any problems (which their were a ton of) and also telling other people and helping them with theirs. First off, this project needs time so you can't do this the night before and it is extremely labor intensive so make sure you have all of your sanity and strength before starting because it will drain your batteries (pun not intentional).

     For the materials you will need

1. 2 L-joints or 1metal strap (steel or iron also make sure their thick)
2. A 6-volt battery
3. 24 gauge wire (100 to 200 feet should be enough)
4. 14 gauge single strand lamp wire (around 100 feet)
5. Pieces of scrap metal (I used copper)
6. Multi-strand wire (lamp or speaker not a lot is needed)
7. Copper foil (Teacher supplied this to me)
8. Cork (Optional)
9. Spool (Optional)
10. 2 16-penny nails
11. Electrical Tape
12. Silicon Tape (Optional)
13. Wood Board
14. Switch (Optional)
15. Darning Needle (9 to 10 inches min.)
16. Screws (size depends on width of board)

     Of course you are going to need some tools like scissors, screwdrivers, and a ruler but thats all common sense

Here is some of the materials needed not all

     So now that you have collected the materials you need to assemble them all into a working motor, i believed that this would be the easier part of the project (famous last words). So any way i will give you a semi-detailed way on how to build each part. We have 4parts the armature, commutator, base magnet, and brushes.

     First, i will be discussing how to build the armature so the materials your going to need are the nails, electrical tape, needle, and 24 gauge wire. To start off first put the 2 nails right next to each other so that the end of one is next to the head of one as shown in picture below. Then hold them straight and wrap them in electrical tape maybe 2 times. Then find the middle of the taped nails and stick the needle through it and make sure that the nails can't turn freely on the needle.

Semi-wrapped armature

     Then take out the 24 gauge wire and measure out 6 inches and start wrapping leaving the 6 inches for connections make sure you start right next to the needle and start wrapping (neatly) all the way to the end and then wrap back to the needle overlapping the first layer of wire. Do this one more time until you have 4 layers of wire and are next to the needle and then slowly cross per the needle and make sure to not change the direction the wire is going or it won't work. Then repeat the wrapping process until you have equal layers on both sides and then like the other side cut off the wire leaving 6 inches for connections.

     Secondly, we will make the commutator which is made out of the cork (but you could use tape), tape, and copper foil. To make the commutator put a hole through the entirety of the cork in the middle, (Side note: For the commutator you can also wrap electrical tape around the needle to make a cylinder with a diameter of ½ inch but anything can be used). Then cut the copper foil to fit the length of the cork and have a length of ¾ inches.

A finished commutator with the armature attached to it

The commutator should then be put on the needle and you should take the two copper strips and place them on the cork bending them so they fit as well as making them opposite on the cork piece. Take a strip of electrical tape that is really thin and put it on the far side of the cork holding down the 2 pieces of copper. Then take the excess wires and put one of them on one of the copper pieces and the other on the copper piece on the opposite side of the cork. Then take a wider piece of tape and tape the 2 pieces of copper and the wires to the cork, this completes the commutator.

    Third of all is the base magnet you will need the 2 L-straps, 14 gauge wire, and electrical tape. To make this you will need to put the steel L-straps together to form a U shape or take a steel metal strap and form a U shape. The U shape should have a base of about 3 or 4 inches and the sides should be 4 or 5 inches. Then when your done putting them together should then wrap the 14 gauge wire very neatly around 200 times or how many times it allows for. Then wrap it al I electrical tape and take another piece of metal and screw the base magnet to the board.
 
     Lastly you need to build the brushes and make the wire connections, take some speaker or lamp wire (multi-strand) and then solder or tape them to pieces of copper and place them next to the commutator. Then take one brush wire and attach it to the base magnet wire and take the other one and attach it straight to the battery (negative) magnet wire on the other end that plugs into our switch and the switch will go to the battery (positive). This should be all you need to know about building a DC motor

Electric Motors

   Electric motors are everywhere but most recently electric motors have been transitioning into the automotive world with battery powered cars and cars that use less fuel than a normal composition engine but how does an electric motor actually work? An electric motor uses electric energy from a battery to make mechanical energy which makes the motor move. Their are two ties of electric motor an AC (alternating current) and a DC (direct current) the difference is that the DC motor ( the one we built for the project)  has a commutator and a set of brushes while an AC motor has no brushes or commutator and goes faster as well as has a better life expectancy. 

An AC Motor

    

A DC Motor

I am going to be focusing on how a DC motor works but an AC motor works around the same way. First two wires are set up that connect to the electrical source (battery) when it is turned on a current is sent through one wire into a brush which then transmits the current to the commutator ( a cylinder on the shaft that has two metal metal strips on it at opposite points). The brush touches on of the metal strips lets call them them the commutator strips A and B. Commutator strip A is also connected too the armature which when current flows through it creates and electromagnet and then back out onto the opposite side of the commutator and into commutator strip B.  The other piece of wire connected to the battery goes through a base magnet directly under the armature and is then connected to a brush which is  connected to commutator strip B. Finally when the battery is turned on the brushes transfer the current into the commutator and the armature powering it as well as the base magnet. This causes the base magnet and the electromagnet (armature) to interact with each other forming a magnetic field that pushes the armature away from the left and draws it toward the right causing rotation. When the armature rotates so does the commutator and when it rotates around 90 degrees that brushes lose contact with the commutator strips but the armature still moves because of momentum. when the commutator turns around 180 degrees the commutator strips A  and B are facing the opposite brushes which cause the armature to now create a different electric field where the armature is pushed away from the right and drawn toward the left. Their is a another break in the commutator strips and then the cycle repeats itself causing a full rotation over and over again.