Direct Current Electrical Motor Model

Direct Current Electrical Motor Model is a cool Java-based app that helps you see how a simple direct current motor works. It shows you an external magnet, which is called the stator because it doesn't move, and a coil of wire that spins, known as the armature. This armature is also referred to as the rotor or coil since it rotates.

How Does It Work?

The armature gets its power from a battery and acts like an electromagnet. Why? Because when current flows through the wire, it creates a magnetic field! This invisible magnetic field wraps all around the armature wire.

The Magic of Motion

To make things move, you have to place this electromagnet in the magnetic field of the permanent magnet. The field runs from its north to south poles. When this happens, the armature feels a force that can be understood using something called the left-hand rule. This interaction between magnetic fields and moving charged particles (which are basically electrons) leads to a magnetic force (you'll see this represented by green arrows) that causes the armature to spin due to torque. You can even use the slider for current I to check out what happens when you reverse the current flow!

Visualizing Current Flow

There's also a checkbox for current flow & electron flow that lets you visualize things differently since I = d(Q)/dt, where Q is charge multiplied by e. Plus, with the Play & Pause button, you can freeze the 3D view! This way, you can really get into how these forces work and see if everything fits with that left-hand rule.

If you're curious about checking out more details or downloading this awesome software, just click here!