Here we talk about how electric motors use electromagentism
Youtube video, suitable whether of not you have the board with you.
See board images.
Tutorial guide for when you have the board with you.
Electric motors use all the clever things we have talked about so far. Look at the big one on the left side of the board. The red and blue bits on the side are magnets, the red signifies the north pole and the blue, a south pole. Now look at the two coils, this is part of the bit the moves and is called the armature. These are connected to the power source (batteries) by two vertical strips touching the part of the armature that the coils are connected – these are called brushes. When current runs through the coils, the armature is pushed round because the coils are pushed away from the magnet they have just passed or pulled towards the next one. The clever bit is that as it turns, the polarity (direction) of the current is changed because the brushes connect the coil the other way round, so the pull and push will happen again as the armature is pushed round in the same direction.
Press the big red button and if necessary, spin the fan to start of the motor. If it doesn't work one way then try the other way.
This motor is called a two-pole motor because there are two coils, as a result it doesn’t go very fast and sounds a bit lumpy. You will notice the difference if you press the blue button and try the three-pole motor.
Some follow-up ideas to try...