Make a Simple Electric Motor (Physics)

Make your own simple electric motor with 20 gauge magnet wire, a D battery, a neodymium magnet, some clay, and a couple of paper clips. This is a great engineering science fair project!

▶️ Get supplies here:

▶️ Procedures:
1. Wrap 20 gauge magnet wire around a D battery about ten times to create a coil.

2. Use the ends of the magnet wire to wrap around the coils to hold it securely in place. Both ends of the wire should be are directly opposite of one another on the coil.

3. With the coil stand vertically, sand the top half of the insulation off both wires.

4. Bend two paper clips into long hooks with loops of wire at the end.

5. Use electrical tape to secure the two paper clips to the D battery. Make sure that the loops of wire are about the same height off the battery.

Now you're ready to put your electric motor together.

6. Use clay or play-dough to create a small mound on the table, which will be the base for the motor. it should be long enough and wide enough to place the D battery.

7. Place the D battery securely in the center of the base, with the loops of wire facing upward.

8. Place a neodymium magnet on the top of the D battery.

9. Carefully connect that coil of wire using the paper clips as holders for the wire ends.

▶️ How the electric motor works:
The coil of wire is an electromagnet and, when connected, it will begin to line up its magnetic fields with that of the neodymium magnet. However, since only half of the insulation was removed, as the electromagnet rotates, it turns off, gliding through the second half of the turn, only to repeat the process. If the insulation is removed from both sides of the wire, the electromagnet will turn to face the neodymium magnet, but then stop once both of the magnetic fields are lined up.

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[aimeelalime]

It worked! Everything has to be straight and lined up well in order to get the best performance. We found it was tricky to get the paper clip loops the same height, but adjusting the playdough was an easy way to make it level so the coil would spin faster. :) Great video, thanks!

[Walldoh_]

Because of these videos my kids and I have a lot of fun with science.

[ronith]

this is very a very useful video for my project in school

[손복렬]

Its also for a school experiment, it helped soo much thx!

[arcysanchez]

What kind of wire did you use? Was it 20 gauge electro magnetic wire or 20 guage electric copper wire??

[targetforallmobs]

can I use a substitute instead of the paper clip, will it work if you put the wire into the eyes of needles?

[shianeruu]

Is it okay to use a 9 volt battery for this motor?. The model won't be the same in the video but still uses the same concept, with a sturdy conductor for the stand glued to a wooden board and connected to the 9 volt battery

[richtersrenestorm]

Thank you, this is a perfect expiriment!

[hwangteate]

where do you put those paper clips, and what kind of magnet you use?

[Chritian]

Say you were to create a tube around the coil and add more magnates would the rotation gain momentum or last longer?

[alexshi]

Does the wire have to be 20 gauge? Also does it work without a neodymium magnet.

[romapasacsac]

Can i use double a battery and copper enameled wire?

[hashtag]

should the magnet be attracted to the copper wire?

[theproswaginist]

Can I do it with only a little bitbof 18g or 20g wire?

[tartilasahid]

excuse me is there any way i could make many parts of wire without using a commutator for smoother rotation?

[katelynn]

@BeardedScienceGuy where can u find copper wire??? please help science project is due this week

[davidwarnken]

Trying this with my daughter and I have 22 guage copper wire I stripped completely. Used a paint marker to paint ends of wire to break circuit. Do I need magnetic wire? And where can I find this? please help project due in four days!

[cindylor]

What does it mean if the copper wire is more attracted to one side of the paper clip than the other? And how do I fix it?

[laurenpooni]

Does it have to be a magnet wire? Or is it okay if it’s just 20 gauge wire?

[aprilrosemuertigue]

does the radius of the coiled wire matter?