Chapter One

Electric Motors – The Basics

1. Introduction

Electric motors are so much a part of everyday life that we seldom give them a second thought. When we switch on an ancient electric drill, for example, we confidently expect it to run rapidly up to the correct speed, and we don’t question how it knows what speed to run at, or how it is that once enough energy has been drawn from the supply to bring it up to speed, the power drawn falls to a very low level. When we put the drill to work it draws more power, and, when we finish, the power drawn from the mains reduces automatically, without intervention on our part.

The humble motor, consisting of nothing more than an arrangement of copper coils and steel laminations, is clearly rather a clever ...

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