Step-by-step tutorial
Step 1
Gather your materials.
Step 2
Stack your battery on top of your neodymium magnets with the flat side of the battery on the magnets.
Step 3
Cut a piece of magnet wire about 30 cm in length. Then bend the wire in half to make a “V.” Keeping the very bottom of the "V" in place, mold the wire into a rectangle. The sides should be about 5 cm.
Step 4
Check to make sure the wire rectangle fits around the batter. You might need to adjust the the wire so that one end touches the magnets at the bottom. Cut the wire as needed!
Step 5
Balance the "V" in the wire on top of the battery and see if it spins!
Tip
Getting the wire to balance can take a few tries—keep at it!
Step 6
Show off your spinning sculptures!
Step 7
Decorate! Make decorations for your spinning sculpture. Symmetrical decorations work best.
Warning
Don’t forget to disconnect the wire. The battery and wire can get hot!
Learn more
These spinning sculptures are an example of homopolar motors. Homopolar motors are a type of motor that is powered by something called a Lorentz Force.
The Lorentz Force occurs when an electric force (the electricity running through the copper wire) meets a magnetic force (the magnets). The collision of these two forces causes your sculpture to spin!
Watch this video to learn more.