1. Why Electricity and Magnets Were Thought to Be Separate Until 1820
In the past, people believed that electricity and magnets were completely different things. They did not think the two could affect each other. However, in 1820, a Danish scholar named Oersted changed this idea. He was preparing an experiment for a lecture when he placed a compass near a wire connected to a battery. At the exact moment he sent electricity through the wire, the needle of the compass trembled and moved [1].
This was a surprise. It was like finding a new taste combination while cooking, but in this case, it was an electrical experiment. Oersted had discovered that electric current creates a magnetic effect.
2. How Faraday Made a Magnet and Mercury Spin a Wire in 1821
The year after Oersted’s discovery, on September 3, 1821, a British scientist named Faraday built a device that could spin. He placed a magnet inside a tube filled with mercury. He also set up a wire supported by a cork. The end of this wire touched the mercury around the magnet. When Faraday connected the battery and sent electricity through the wire, the wire kept spinning around the magnet on top of the mercury [2].
This was the world’s first "device that spins with electricity." It became the basis for what we now call a motor [2].
3. How Faraday's Discovery Led to a Conflict with His Teacher Davy
Faraday’s success was not just a happy moment. His teacher, Davy, and Davy’s friend, Wollaston, had also been trying to build a similar device for some time. When Faraday succeeded first, Davy became angry. He said that Faraday did not properly acknowledge Wollaston’s ideas [3].
Faraday apologized, and Wollaston did not pursue the issue further. However, it is said that the relationship between Faraday and Davy remained awkward afterward. How bad it really was is a matter of different views [3].
4. How Fleming's Left-Hand Rule Explains Why the Wire Spins
About half a century after Faraday’s experiment, in the late 19th century, a British engineer named Fleming wanted to explain why the wire moves in a specific direction. He wanted a way to make this clear to everyone. He created a rule using the left hand. You spread your thumb, index finger, and middle finger at right angles to each other. If you point your index finger in the direction of the magnetic field and your middle finger in the direction of the current, your thumb points in the direction of the movement [4].
This is known as Fleming’s Left-Hand Rule. It helps people understand the forces at work inside a motor.
5. How the Laboratory Device Became a Useful Motor
Faraday’s device was only an experiment to show the wonders of electricity. It became a useful motor much later. In 1873, at an exhibition in Vienna, an operator working with generators connected the wires of two generators together. When one generator was turned by an engine, the other one started to spin using only electricity [5].
A generator changes movement into electricity. But if you send that electricity to another generator, that machine changes the electricity back into movement and starts to spin. Generators and motors are actually two sides of the same mechanism. An engineer named Gramme saw this and used the system to pump water from a distant location [5].
6. Where Motors Are Used Today
About 200 years have passed since that mercury experiment. Today, motors are spinning inside many things, such as electric fans, washing machines, toys, and cars. We have come a long way from the small tremor of a compass needle noticed by Oersted. It is like a small spark growing into a large bonfire, though this story is about experiments, not fire.
7. The Many People Involved in the Motor's History Since 1820
From the slight trembling of a compass needle to the motors of today, many people were involved. Let us count them. There was Oersted, Faraday, Davy, Wollaston, Fleming, and Gramme. Try writing their names in a notebook. Then, try to explain their roles in order.