Faraday’s Electric Motor: a construction for museums and didactic laboratories

Abstract

Historically, Michael Faraday (1791-1867) can be cited as the
creator of the first “motor” capable of producing a continuous
movement due to the action of an electric current. In the third decade
of the XIX century, Faraday presented two versions of that
primitive electric motor: one with mobile stem and fixed magnet
and another with a fixed stem and mobile magnet. The first one is
a simple construction, being easily found in sites on the internet.
The second version needs a much larger continuous current which
makes its construction difficult. This work elaborates a
construction of the two versions, adapted to the residential
electric energy that can be utilized by museums and didactic laboratories
interested in this type of demonstration.