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How Electric Motors Work

In Magnet Field, place a compass at several spots around a magnet to read the field's direction, then confirm that a current-carrying wire makes exactly the same kind of field around itself. In A Pushed Wire, flip only the current direction or only the field direction and watch the force on the wire reverse — flip both together and the force returns to its original direction. In A Spinning Motor, switch the commutator off and the coil judders to a stop after half a turn because the force reverses; switch it on and the commutator flips the current every half turn, keeping the coil spinning the same way. The secret to a motor that never stops turning turns out to be the commutator.