This is a simulation of direct current motor, which is simply a current loop that rotates in a magnetic field because of the torque applied to the loop by the field.

The simulation shows two perspectives, a side view and an overhead view. The side view is the perspective when looking at the left side of the loop in the overhead view. To keep the torque going the same way on the loop, the current in the loop must be reversed every half rotation of the loop. The red arrows on the side view show the magnetic force applied to two sides of the loop. The purple and green arrows on the overhead view, and the x and o on the side view, indicate the current direction in those sides of the loop.

Simulation written by Andrew Duffy, and first posted on 2-16-2018.

Creative Commons License
This work by Andrew Duffy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This simulation can be found in the collection at http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/classroom.html.

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