HOME>AGE1619>ELECTRICITYANDMAGNETISM>ELECTROMAGNETICINDUCTION>THEBACKE.M.FINAD.

CMOTOR

Thebackemfinad.cmotor
Inordertounderstandtheideaofbacke.m.finad.c.motorwewillthinkaboutanelectriccar,or
milkdeliveryvan,goingupandoverahillasshowninFigure1.

Assoonasthecoilinthemotorstartsrotating,abacke.m.f.willbeinducedinitduetotheflux
thatitcuts,andthiswilltendtoreducethecurrentthroughit.
Let the supply e.m.f. be E, the back e.m.f. be , the resistance of the coil R and the current
throughthecoilI.Then
I=[E]/Rsinceeisproportionaltotheangularspeed()thegreaterthesmallerI.
ForpracticalmotorswithE=100V,thebacke.m.f.maybegreatas95V!
TheresistanceofthecoilRisusuallysmall(lessthan1)andthereforewhenitisatrestalarge
current may flow through it. When the coil speeds up this is reduced, since the back e.m.f. is
proportionaltotherateofrotationofthecoil.Thestartingcurrentcanbeaslargeas1000A,and
a protective resistor must be incorporated in series with the coil during starting. This can be
removed when the motor is running. This is why a d.c. motor that is running should never be
stoppedwiththesupplyconnected.Ifthisisdonethebacke.m.f.willfalltozero,thecurrentwill
becomeverylargeandthecoilmayburnout.
Thediagramshowsanelectriccarrunbya60Vbatterygoingoverahill.Itshouldhelptoexplain
what happens when the motor runs at different speeds. As the car climbs the hill AB on the left
themotorisrunningslowly,thebacke.m.f.isthereforelow(say5V)andthismeansthatalarge
current flows through the motor, giving a large torque. Chemical energy from the battery is
convertedtopotentialenergyofthecar.
The car now goes up section BC. The slope is much shallower, the motor speeds up and so the
backe.m.f.risestosay59V.Thecurrentthroughthemotoristhereforelow.

ThecarnowdescendsthesectionCD.Thespeedincreasessothatthebacke.m.f.risesto60V,
andenergyissuppliedtojustovercomefriction.Furtherdownthehill,however,thecarismoving
faster and the back e.m.f. is greater than 60 V and so the motor acts as a dynamo, storing up
energy in the battery. The current flowing produces a torque which tends to oppose the motion
andsoactsasabrake.
As long as electromagnets are used for the field, a d.c. motor will run on a.c., although very
inefficientlyowingtothelargeselfinductanceofitscoils.

Studentinvestigation

The following experiment is designed to

study the effect of various loads on the
speedofanelectricmotorandhenceonthe
backe.m.f.produced.
Set up the motor as shown in Figure 2, with
a variable tension friction brake around a
wheelonthemotoraxle.
Using a very small armature voltage (say
0.5 V, not enough to rotate the motor)
measure the resistance of the armature
coils.
Set the output of the power supply to a
knownvalue(E)nearthemaximumrequired
forthemotor,andthenconnectthemotorto
it.Measurethetensioninthefrictionbrake,
thevoltageacrossthemotorandthecurrent
throughit.
Hence calculate the back e.m.f. Measure the speed of rotation of the motor with a
stroboscope.
Varythetensioninthefrictionbrakeandrecordasetofvaluesfortheabovevariables.
Plot graphs of both the current in the motor and the back e.rn.f against the angular
velocityandtension.

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KeithGibbs2012