How does an electric motor work?

Question

How does an electric motor work?

Answer 1

Moving magnetic fields.

Caused by moving electrical fields.

Answer 2

AC motors work by moving electric fields. In DC motors, one field is stationary.

Answer 3

There are many different types of electric motor. In most cases there is a current in a coil which produces a magnetic field which interacts with other magnetic field and results in a torque on a rotating part (rotor, armature...).

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_mo...

and http://www.howstuffworks.com/motor.htm

Answer 4

AC Motor:

Picture a sine wave, the positive part of the wave is your positive magnetic charge, negative parts of the wave your negative charge.  This is how your your AC power works, hence it's name: Alternating current

Now visualize the motor:

You have a magnetized metal rod that can rotate, and a stationary coil of wires that is charged according to the sine wave.

As the rod goes around and round, the coil of wires will attract the rod as it approaches the coil and then the sine wave becomes the opposite pole and repels the rotating rod as it moves away from the coil.

The stronger the magnetic field, the more torque you can obtain.