Materials
Required:
Instructions:
- Starting about 3 inches from the
end of the wire, wrap it 7 times around
the toilet paper tube. Remove the tube
(you don't need it any more). Cut
the wire, leaving a 3 inch tail opposite the
original starting point. Wrap
the two tails around the coil so that the coil is
held together and the
two tails extend perpendicular to the coil. See
illustration below:
Note: Be sure to center the two tails on either side of the coil. Balance is important. You might need to put a drop of glue where the tail meets the coil to prevent slipping.
- On one
tail, use fine sandpaper to completely remove the insulation
from the wire.
Leave about 1/4" of insulation on the end and where
the wire meets to coil.
On the other tail, lay the coil down flat and lightly
sand off the insulation
from the top half of the wire only. Again, leave
1/4" of full insulation on
the end and where the wire meets the coil.
- Bend the two paper clips into the following shape
(needle-nosed pliers
may be useful here):
- Use the rubber band to hold the loop ends (on the
left in the above
drawing) to the terminals of the "D" Cell
battery:
- Stick the ceramic magnet on the side of the
battery as shown:
- Place the coil in the cradle formed by the right
ends of the paper
clips. You may have to give it a gentle push to get it
started, but it
should begin to spin rapidly. If it doesn't spin, check to make
sure that
all of the insulation has been remove d from the wire ends. If it
spins
erratically, make sure that the tails on the coil are centered on the
sides
of the coil. Note that the motor is "in phase" only when it
is
held horizontally (as shown in the drawing).
- For display,
you will probably need to build a small cradle to hold
the motor in the proper
position. It might also help to bend the ends of
the coil a bit so that as it
slips right or left, the bends keep it in
the proper position:
- Here is a diagram of the finished motor:
