What is Electric Motor

What is Electric Motor?

Electric motor, any of a class of devices that convert electrical energy to mechanical energy, usually by employing electromagnetic phenomena. Most electric motors develop their mechanical torque by the interaction of conductors carrying current in a direction at right angles to a magnetic field. The various types of electric motor differ in the ways in which the conductors and the field are arranged and also in the control that can be exercised over mechanical output torque, speed, and position.

Click a switch and get instant power. You can find this in everything from electric trains to remote-controlled cars, and you might be surprised how common they are. How many electric motors are there in the room with you right now? There are probably too many such as in your computer for starters, one spinning your hard drive around and another one powering the cooling fan. you'll find motors in electronic toys, hair dryers in the ceiling fans, and electric shavers. In the kitchen you may find in many electronic gadgets mixers etc.. every appliances mostly have motors, washing machines and dishwashers to coffee grinders, microwaves.

Electric motors have proved themselves to be among the greatest inventions of all time. Let's pull some apart and find out how they work. The basic idea of an electric motor is really simple: you put electricity into it at one end and an axle (metal rod) rotates at the other end giving you the power to drive a machine of some kind.

An electric motor consists of two essential elements. The first, a static component which consists of magnetic materials and electrical conductors to generate magnetic fields of a desired shape, is known as the stator. The second, which also is made from magnetic and electrical conductors to generate shaped magnetic fields which interact with the fields generated by the stator, is known as the rotor. The rotor comprises the moving component of the motor, having a rotating shaft to connect to the machine being driven and some means of maintaining an electrical contact between the rotor and the motor housing (typically, carbon brushes pushed against slip rings). In operation, the electrical current supplied to the motor is used to generate magnetic fields in both the rotor and the stator. These fields push against each other with the result that the rotor experiences a torque and consequently rotates.

AC Motor:

An AC motor is an electric motor driven by an alternating current. The AC motor commonly consists of two basic parts, an outside stator having coils supplied with alternating current to produce a rotating magnetic field, and an inside rotor attached to the output shaft producing a second rotating magnetic field. 

Definition: The motor that converts the alternating current into mechanical power by using an electromagnetic induction phenomenon is called an AC motor. This motor is driven by an alternating current. The stator and the rotor are the two most important parts of the AC motors. The stator is the stationary part of the motor, and the rotor is the rotating part of the motor. The AC motor may be single phase or three phase.

The three phase AC motors are mostly applied in the industry for bulk power conversion from electrical to mechanical. For small power conversion, the single phase AC motors are mostly used.The single phase AC motor is nearly small in size, and it provides a variety of services in the home, office, business concerns, factories, etc. Almost all the domestic appliances such as refrigerators, fans, washing machine, hair dryers, mixers, etc., use single phase AC motor.

AC motor Phase 1
Click on image to know more Price and brands

DC Motor:

A DC motor is any of a class of rotary electrical machines that converts direct current electrical energy into mechanical energy. The most common types rely on the forces produced by magnetic fields. Nearly all types of DC motors have some internal mechanism, either electro mechanical or electronic, to periodically change the direction of current flow in part of the motor.

DC motors were the first form of motor widely used, as they could be powered from existing direct-current lighting power distribution systems. A DC motor's speed can be controlled over a wide range, using either a variable supply voltage or by changing the strength of current in its field winding.

DC motor 12 Volt - Click on image for details

DC motor 12 Volt - Click on image for details

AC v/s DC motor :-

While both A.C. and D.C. motors serve the same function of converting electrical energy into mechanical energy, they are powered, constructed and controlled differently. 1 The most basic difference is the power source. A.C. motors are powered from alternating current (A.C.) while D.C. motors are powered from direct current (D.C.)