0% found this document useful (0 votes)
18 views

Motor Principle

Uploaded by

diajetan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
0% found this document useful (0 votes)
18 views

Motor Principle

Uploaded by

diajetan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 7

Force on a conductor carrying current in a magnetic field

The motor effect


It has been shown experimentally that there is a force on a conductor carrying current in
a magnetic field causing the conductor to move. Figure 1 demonstrates that there is a
force which acts on any current-carrying conductor in a magnetic field. If the polarity of
the magnet changes the direction of motion changes, also if the polarity of the battery
changes the direction of motion changes.

Battery

Permanent Magnet

Conductor

Fig. 1 Force on conductor

This force is called the motor effect. Its direction is given by Fleming's left-hand rule.

Fleming’s left-hand rule


Fleming’s left hand rule shows the relationship between current motion and electric field,
and it states that:

If the first two fingers and the thumb of the left hand are held at right-angles to
each other, and if the first finger points in the direction of the field and if the
second finger points in the direction of the current, the thumb will point in the
direction of the motion.

Ahante’s online class | Lesson note on Motor effect 1


Fig. 2 Fleming’s left hand rule

Application of the motor effect


1. The deflection of an electron beam. Figure 3 shows the application of Fleming's
left-hand rule to a beam of electrons flowing through a magnetic field. Electrons
are negative and an electron beam represents a conventional current flowing
towards the gun.

Fig. 3 Motor effect on an electron beam

2. The moving-coil loudspeaker. The motor effect underlies the action of the moving-
coil loudspeaker. An electric current, whose magnitude follows the same pattern as
the changing pressure along a sound wave, flows through the coil wound on the
cylinder attached to the paper cone shown in Fig. 4. The paper cylinder is crossed
everywhere by a radial magnetic field from the magnet. The current oscillates, the
coil and the paper cylinder oscillate in turn and the corresponding sound issues from
the paper cone.

Ahante’s online class | Lesson note on Motor effect 2


Fig. 4 The moving coil loudspeaker

3. The couple on a coil in a magnetic field. Figure 5 shows a square coil mounted in a
magnetic field and parallel to the lines of force. The directions of the forces on
the four sides are given by Fleming's left-hand rule. They are shown by arrows. The
forces on AB and CD are zero. The forces F, and F2, acting on BC and DA, are equal
in magnitude, oppositely directed and act normally to the plane of the coil. Together
they constitute a turning force called a couple, tending to rotate the coil about the
axis XY.

Fig. 5 The couple on a coil

Ahante’s online class | Lesson note on Motor effect 3


It can be shown that the magnitude of the turning force, properly called the
moment of the couple, acting on a coil mounted in a magnetic field whose direction
is parallel to the plane of the coil, increases in proportion to:
(a) the current in the coil,

(b) the number of turns in the coil,

(c) the area of the coil, and

(d) the strength of the magnetic field.

4. The simple d.c. electric motor. The d.c. motor shown in Fig. 6 consists of a coil
mounted on an axis in a magnetic field and fed with current through a split-ring
commutator in such a way that the current always passes into the part of the coil
which is on one side and is drawn from the part of the coil which is on the other
side. This ensures that the couple on the coil always acts in the same direction as
the coil rotates. In the motor shown in the diagram, the driving couple is always
clockwise.

Fig. 6 A simple d.c. electric motor

As the speed of the motor increases so does the back e.m.f. induced by its motion .
The motor settles down at the speed for which the back e.m.f. cuts the driving
current back to the value at which it is just strong enough to drive the motor
against its load.

Ahante’s online class | Lesson note on Motor effect 4


Measuring Instruments

To measure current we make use of the ammeter or galvanometer and to measure voltage
we use the volt meter. There are two types of galvanometers these are the moving coil and
the moving ion.

1. The moving-coil galvanometer. The essential features in the design of the moving-
coil galvanometer are shown in Fig. 7 (a). The permanent magnet has curved poles,
and a soft-iron cylinder is fixed between them so that the coil moves in a radial
field (see Fig. 7 (b)). The coil, wound on a light former which moves freely over the
soft-iron cylinder, is fixed to a shaft and mounted between jeweled bearings.
Phosphor-bronze hairsprings, attached to the shaft, oppose the motion of the coil
and also carry the current to and from the coil. These springs are wound in opposite
directions to cancel the effects of thermal expansion.

Fig. 7(a) Moving coil galvanometer (b) Radial field

The coil is turned by a current flowing into the positive terminal of the
galvanometer. It turns until the restoring couple in the springs is strong enough to
oppose the couple generated by the current and the magnetic field. The needle
attached to the coil moves over a scale and the point at which it comes to rest
indicates the strength of the current in the coil. An important advantage of this
galvanometer is its linear scale. Doubling the current doubles the deflection and

Ahante’s online class | Lesson note on Motor effect 5


this is made possible by the radial field which ensures that the coil is in a magnetic
field of constant strength for all deflections.

Advantages of the moving coil galvanometer


(a) It has a linear scale therefore it is easy to read.
(b) It is not affected by external magnetic field due to its strong radial field.
Disadvantages of the moving coil galvanometer
(a) It can only measure d.c
(b) It is more expensive than the moving-iron galvanometer

2. The moving-iron galvanometer . The moving-coil galvanometer has the disadvantage


that it measures currents flowing in one direction only. Alternating currents change
direction rapidly and must be measured in some other way. The moving-iron
galvanometer deflects in the same direction for either direction of the current and
will measure alternating currents. When a current is passed through the coil of a
moving-iron galvanometer two pieces of soft-iron are magnetized with like
poles side by side. These two pieces of soft-iron repel one another with a force
which increases with the current. One of the pieces is fixed. The other acts as a
counterbalance to a needle which is mounted on a shaft and kept in place with a
spiral hairspring. The distance which the needle moves over the scale is a measure
of the current. This is shown in Fig. 8 below

Fig. 8 Moving-iron galvanometer

Advantages of the moving-iron galvanometer

(a) It can be used to measure both a.c and dc.

Ahante’s online class | Lesson note on Motor effect 6


(b) It is sheep

Disadvantages of the moving coil galvanometer

(a) It has a non-linear scale, therefore it is difficult to read.


(b) May be affected by external magnetic field

Ahante’s online class | Lesson note on Motor effect 7

You might also like