Question

Question 29
Draw a labelled circuit diagram of a simple electric motor and explain its working. In what way these simple electric motors are different from commercial motors?

Answer 1

Working of simple electric motor:

a. Current in the coil ABCD enters from the source battery through conducting brush X and flows back to the battery through brush Y.
b. Notice that the current in arm AB of the coil flows from A to B. In arm CD it flows from C to D, that is, opposite to the direction of current through arm AB. On applying Fleming’s left hand rule for the direction of force on a current-carrying conductor in a magnetic field.
c. We find that the force acting on arm AB pushes it downwards while the force acting on arm CD pushes it upwards. Thus the coil and the axle O, mounted free to turn about an axis, rotate anti-clockwise.
d. At half rotation, Q makes contact with the brush X and P with brush Y. Therefore the current in the coil gets reversed and flows along the path DCBA.
e. The reversal of current also reverses the direction of force acting on the two arms AB and CD. Thus the arm AB of the coil that was earlier pushed down is now pushed up and the arm CD previously pushed up is now pushed down. Therefore the coil and the axle rotate half a turn more in the same direction.
f. The reversing of the current is repeated at each half rotation, giving rise to a continuous rotation of the coil and to the axle.

The commercial motors use:
a. An electromagnet in place of permanent magnet;
b. Large number of turns of the conducting wire in the current carrying coil; and
c. A soft iron core on which the coil is wound