One of the great joys in my life is to come across a new science demo, particularly if it’s an elegant, simple one. I can take credit for introducing one of my favourite science communicators, Michael de Podesta, to this demo of the motor effect. Michael kindly calls it the “Alom Shaha Motor” but I can only wish that I came up with this idea myself. Jonathan and I have made a film about this, but here’s Michael’s own, elegant, simple film of the demo.
I made this with a pupil of mine- it’s brilliant! But make sure to use Neodymium magnets (which conduct electricity and so complete the circuit) and a copper wire (we used a coat hanger wire at first which was magnetic and stuck to the magnets). If you don’t have Neodymium magnets, you can do what we did and wrap your magnets in aluminium foil and voila- conducting magnets!
This is a really great intro to electromagnetism and incredibly hypnotic.