In this science experiment, we show how to construct a simple homopolar electric motor from a magnet, a wire, a screw, and a battery.
Summary: We use a strong magnet to temporarily magnetize a screw which we leave hanging from an AA battery. Next, we connect a wire from one terminal of the battery to the bottom of the magnet. This allows an electric current to flow through the magnet and screw. The electricity interacts with the magnetic field of the magnet producing a force that turns the entire assembly, thus creating a simple motor.
For a grand finale, we connect two superbright LEDs (light emitting diodes) to the bottom of the entire assembly and again run the motor with the LEDs turned on. This created a nice lightshow and is really impressive with the lights turned to dim!
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