Generators and Motors

Basic Magnetic Field

Magnets are pieces of metal that have the ability to attract other
metals. Every magnet has two poles: a north and a south. Much
like electrical charges, two similar magnetic poles repel each other;
while opposite magnetic poles attract each other. Magnets have a
continuous force around them that is known as a magnetic field.
This field enables them to attract other metals. Figure 1 illustrates
this force using bar and horseshoe magnets.

The shape of the magnet dictates the path the lines of force will
take. Notice that the force in Figure 1 is made up of several lines
traveling in a specific direction. It can be concluded that the lines
travel from the magnet's north pole to its south. These lines of
force are often called the magnetic flux. If the bar magnet is now
bent to form a horseshoe magnet, the north and south pole are
now across from each other. Notice in the horseshoe magnet how
the lines of force are now straight, and that they travel from the
north pole to the south. It will be revealed how generators and
motors use these lines of force to generate electricity, as well as
mechanical motion.

Magnetic Fields Around Conductors

When a current flows through a conductor, a magnetic field

surrounds the conductor. As current flow increases, so does the
number of lines of force in the magnetic field (Figure 2).
The right hand rule helps demonstrate the relationship between
conductor current and the direction of force. Grasp a wire
conductor in the right hand, put your thumb on the wire pointing
upward, and wrap your four fingers around the wire. As long as the
thumb is in the direction that current flows through the wire, the
fingers curl around the wire in the direction of the magnetic field.
Figure 3 demonstrates the right hand rule.

Polarity of Coils Cutting Through Lines of Force

A conductor can be twisted into a coil, which efficiently produces

current when cutting the lines of force in a magnetic field. The
more turns in this coil, the stronger the magnetic field.
Furthermore, if the coil is wrapped around a piece of iron, the
current becomes even stronger.

When needing to discover which poles are which in a conductor, it

is important to notice which way the coils turn in order to apply the
right hand rule. In addition, one should always look at which side of
the coil is attached to the positive terminal of a power source such
as a battery, and which side is attached to the negative. Figure 4
illustrates four different scenarios and the appropriate poles.
As a conductor cuts across the lines of force in a magnetic field, it
generates a current. This method of inducing a current is called
induction. There are three rules for induction:

1. When a conductor cuts through lines of force, it induces an

electromotive force (EMF), or voltage.
2. Either the magnetic field or the conductor needs to be
moving for this to happen.
3. If the direction of the cutting across the magnetic field
changes, the direction of the induced EMF also changes.

Accordingly, Faraday's law states that induced voltage can be

determined by the number of turns in a coil, and how fast the coil
cuts through a magnetic field. Therefore, the more turns in a coil or
the stronger the magnetic field, the more voltage induced.

In addition, current changes direction depending on which way it

cuts across a magnetic field. As depicted in Figure 5, a coil cutting
through a basic magnetic field in a clockwise direction will at first
result in a current with positive polarity, but as it cuts across the
same field in the opposite direction during the second half of its
turn, the polarity becomes negative.
When current switches from positive to negative repeatedly, it is
called alternating current, or A.C. Alternating current will be
explained in more detail later.

DC Current

When a current is direct (D.C.) rather than alternating (A.C.), the

polarity of that current never changes direction. Usually, when a
coil turns in a clockwise direction, the first 180 degrees of the turn
result in the induced current going in a positive direction. As
mentioned above, however, the second 180 degrees result in the
induced current going in a negative direction. In direct current, the
current always travels in a positive direction. How is this possible?
When inducing direct current, some mechanism must be employed
to make sure the coils only cut through the magnetic field in one
direction, or that the circuit only uses current from the coil cutting in
that one direction. Devices such as D.C. generators employ a
mechanism called a commutator to keep current flowing in one
direction. Figure 6 shows direct current in the form of a sine wave.
Notice that the current never has negative polarity, and is therefore
always flowing in a positive direction.
Direct Current Generators

A generator is a device that turns rotary mechanical energy into

electrical energy.

Simple D.C. generators contain several parts, including an

armature (or rotor), a commutator, brushes, and field winding. A
variety of sources can supply mechanical energy to the D.C.
generator to turn its armature. The commutator changes the
alternating current (A.C.) into direct current as it flows through the
armature.

The stationary brushes, which are graphite connectors on the

generator, form contact with opposite parts of the commutator. As
the armature coil turns, it cuts across the magnetic field, and
current is induced. At the first half turn of the armature coil
(clockwise direction), the contacts between commutator and
brushes are reversed, or to put it another way, the first brush now
contacts the opposite segment that it was touching during the first
half turn while the second brush contacts the segment opposite the
one it touched on the first half turn. By doing this, the brushes keep
current going in one direction, and deliver it to and from its
destination.

Direct Current Motors

Motors change electric energy into mechanical energy. Direct

current motors and generators are constructed very similarly. They
function almost oppositely at first because a generator creates
voltage when conductors cut across the lines of force in a
magnetic field, while motors result in torque-- a turning effort of
mechanical rotation. Simple motors have a flat coil that carries
current that rotates in a magnetic field. The motor acts as a
generator since after starting, it produces an opposing current by
rotating in a magnetic field, which in turn results in physical motion.

This is accomplished as a conductor is passed through a magnetic

field, then the opposing fields repel each other to cause physical
motion. The left hand rule can be used to explain the way a simple
motor works (Figure 9). The pointer finger points in the direction of
the magnetic field, the middle finger points in the direction of the
current, and the thumb shows which way the conductor will be
forced to move.
A self-excited motor produces its own field excitation. A shunt
motor has its field in parallel with the armature circuit, and a series
motor is when the field is in a series with the armature.

When the conductor is bent into a coil, the physical motion

performs an up and down cycle. The more bends in a coil, the less
pulsating the movement will be. This physical movement is called
torque, and can be measured in the equation:

T = kt  ia

T = torque

kt = constant depending on physical dimension of motor

 = total number of lines of flux entering the armature from one N

pole

ia = armature current

Alternating Current

Much like the process of producing direct current, the process of

producing an alternating current requires a conductor loop
spinning in a magnetic field. As a matter of fact, the process is the
same for both types of current, except that the alternating current
is never changed into direct current through the use of a
commutator. The conductor loop, or coil, cuts through lines of force
in a magnetic field to induce A.C. voltage at its terminals. Each
complete turn of the loop is called a "cycle." The alternating current
wave is pictured in Figure 10.
Notice what segment of the wave consists of one cycle, and which
is the part of the wave from point A to the next point A. If we divide
the wave into four equal parts, the divisions happen at points A, B,
C, and D. We can read the turn of the coil and how it relates to the
wave produced. From A to B is the first quarter turn of the coil,
from B to C is the second quarter turn, from C to D is the third
quarter turn, and from D to A is the final quarter turn.

It is important to note that degree markings on a horizontal axis

refer to electrical degrees and are not geometric. The example
above is for a single pole generator. However, if this were a double
pole generator, then 1 cycle would happen at each 180 degrees
rather than 360 degrees, and so on.

Alternating Current Generator

An alternating current generator, or alternator, produces an

alternating current, which means the polarity of the current
changes direction repeatedly. This type of generator requires a coil
to cut across a magnetic field, and is attached to two slip rings
connected to brushes. The brushes deliver the current to and from
the load destination, thus completing the circuit.

During the first half turn, the coil cuts across the field near the
magnet's north pole. Electrons go up the wire, and the lower slip
ring becomes positively charged. When the coil cuts near the
south pole of the wire during the second half turn, the lower slip
ring becomes negatively charged, and electrons move down the
wire. The faster the coil turns, the faster the electrons move, or to
put it another way, the more frequency is increased, or the more
hertz per second, the stronger the current.

Alternating Current Motor

An alternating current motor is similar to the direct current motor

except for a few characteristics. Instead of the rotor field reversing
every half turn, the stator field reverses every half turn.

There are several different types of alternating current motors. The

most common type is the polyphase induction motor, which
contain a stator and a rotor, where the stator is attached to the
A.C. supply. When the stator winding becomes energized, a
rotating magnetic field is created. An EMF is induced as the field
goes across the inductors and current flows through them. Torque
is therefore exerted on the rotor conductors carrying