In its simplest form, an electric motor is made of an electric current running through a conducting coil in a magnetic field. This SURF project involved 6 students and was dedicated to the characterization and practical realization of an electric motor of this type.
A first part of the project was dedicated to a review of the fundamental concepts of electromagnetism, and to the application of its laws to derive the differential equations to fully describe the motion of the coil in the magnetic field. Later, the project focused on the numerical solution of these equations using self-written Python codes, which allowed to explore the motor behavior under different scenarios. Finally, an important part of the project was dedicated to the practical building of electric motors using basic materials; our work successfully yielded stable spinning motors and allowed us to test qualitatively the effect of changing some parameters on the motor performance.