Electric Motors

Electric motors are a kind of machine that serves the purpose of converting electrical energy into mechanical energy (such that can be used in a mechanical machine to turn cogs or levers etc). Electric motors normally operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and conductors carrying currents in order to generate force, while some others use alternate methods of action such as electrostatic forces. The opposite use – of creating electrical energy from mechanical energy, is conversely caused by an alternator, a generator or a dynamo. Lots of types of electric motors can run as generators however and vice versa – for instance a starter/generator used in a gas turbine or traction motor in vehicles often perform both of these tasks through a single unit.

Electrical motors are found in a huge range of applications and are a crucial component of almost any mechanical device that it powered electrically as well as many smaller appliances for use around the home. These include industrial fans, pumps, blowers, hair dryers, computers, power tools, motors, cars, even wristwatches. With something like a computer you might not at first see how they are required to use electric motors – however when you think of how a disk drive works; by rapidly rotating the disk and reading the data off of it as this happens, it becomes apparent. The largest electrical motors are used for the propulsion of large ships and sometimes the rotor blades of air-born vehicles. They are also often used as pipeline compressors and these huge electric motors have ratings of millions of watts.

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