Principle of Operation
Like any other electric motor, the homopolar motor is driven by the Lorentz force: as they move through an external magnetic field, the current carriers in the conductor experience a push that is perpendicular to both their velocity and to the external magnetic field. This force induces a torque around the axis of rotation. Because the axis of rotation is parallel to the external magnetic field, no commutation is required for the conductor to keep turning. This simplicity is achieved at the cost of not being able to have more than one coil turn, which makes the homopolar motor unsuited for most useful applications.
Like most electro-mechanical machines, a homopolar motor is reversible: if the conductor is turned mechanically, then it will operate as a homopolar generator, producing a direct current voltage between the two terminals of the conductor. The direct current produced is an effect of the homopolar nature of the design.
Read more about this topic: Homopolar Motor
Famous quotes containing the words principle of, principle and/or operation:
“I often wish for the end of the wretched remnant of my life; and that wish is a rational one; but then the innate principle of self-preservation, wisely implanted in our natures, for obvious purposes, opposes that wish, and makes us endeavour to spin out our thread as long as we can, however decayed and rotten it may be.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“It is funny that men who are supposed to be scientific cannot get themselves to realise the basic principle of physics, that action and reaction are equal and opposite, that when you persecute people you always rouse them to be strong and stronger.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“Waiting for the race to become official, he began to feel as if he had as much effect on the final outcome of the operation as a single piece of a jumbo jigsaw puzzle has to its predetermined final design. Only the addition of the missing fragments of the puzzle would reveal if the picture was as he guessed it would be.”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)