Objectives
- Students will explore the parts of a motor.
- Students will discover the relationship between the input voltage and the speed of the motor.
- Students will experiment with the repulsion and attraction of a commutator with magnets arranged around as it spins.
- Students will adjust the number of windings in a motor to change the strength of the electromagnet and the speed of the motor.
- Students will explore the role of the electromagnet in a motor.
Vocabulary
- RPM
- DC Motor
- Electromagnet
- Commutator
- Polarity
- Electromagnetic Induction
- Potential
- Windings
- Permanent Magnet
- Power Supply
- Rotor
About the Lesson
In this lesson, students will investigate a simple DC motor. The students will explore the parts of the motor and then adjust the voltage or windings in the motor and observe how speed is affected.
As a result, students will:
- Examine the relationship between the voltage of a power supply and the speed of the motor.
- Relate the direction of the spin of the rotor in the motor with the polarity of the power supply.
- Connect the attraction and repulsion of the electromagnet in a motor with the rotation of the rotor.
- Explore the relationship between the number of windings making the electromagnet and the speed of the rotor.