HOMOPOLAR

MOTOR
Aiman, Patrick, Ryan
How does Homopolar motor works?
A homopolar motor is a direct current (DC) electric motor
which produces constant circular motion. This device is easy to
create and the figure here illustrates the basic concepts behind
its operation. A permanent magnet is attached to one terminal of
a DC power supply, in this case a AA battery. A conducting wire
connects the other terminal to the magnet, thus completing the
circuit. This wire should be free to rotate while always
maintaining contact with both the terminal and magnet. The
current (I) flowing through the wire will produce a magnetic
field. This field will interact with the magnetic field (B)
produced by the permanent magnet.
Lorentz force (F) will be exerted perpendicular to the
directions of I and B. As you look at the diagram, the
force on the left section of the wire is acting into the
screen and the force on the right section is coming out
of the screen. As the wire can move freely, these forces
cause the wire to rotate in a clockwise motion.
Because the polarities of the magnetic fields do not
change (hence the name homopolar), the direction of
the force will not change and the wire will rotate in a
constant circular motion.

We can also use the Fleming’s left-hand rule to

determine the direction of force. The thumb
represents the direction of the force of the conductor.
The index finger represents the direction of the
magnetic field, from north to south. The middle finger
represents the direction of the current.
As mentioned above, it is the Lorentz force acting on the wire
which causes it to turn. This force results from the interaction of the
electric and magnetic forces in electromagnetic fields. In the
presence of a magnetic field, a moving charged particle, such as an
electron carrying the current in the wire, will experience a force.
Materials
1. Neodymium magnet
2. Copper wire (20cm)
3. AA battery
Design of homopolar motor
We have come up with the idea of making homopolar motor with a simple
design, which is the Iron Man. It takes a few minutes to complete it as the
design is very simple but attractive at the same time . Kids and teenagers
will be very excited to see the design of our homopolar motor. This can
help to increase the selling of our products. The design is simple but
creative and we are sure that everyone would love to buy our product.
Budget
Cost:

 1 Neodymium magnet = RM 1.50

 20 cm Copper wire = RM 0.07
 1 AA battery = RM 1.20
 Sand paper = RM 0.20
 Total cost = RM 2.97

Selling Price:
 RM 6.97
 Profit = RM 4.00
Precautions
1. Don’t let the copper wire to spin around the battery for too long as it will get
very hot.
2. Do not bend the wire too hard.
3. make sure to rub the copper wire with the sand paper carefully.
 REFERENCES
● https://www.magcraft.com/blog/what-is-a-
homopolar-motor
● https://www.kjmagnetics.com/blog.asp?
p=homopolar-motors