2015 Homopolar Valentine Special

If giving a rose this year won't cut it try building them a homopolar valentine motor!

Check out this short and sweet video - with just as much video editing ;)

All you need is a:

Magnet

Length of copper

Wire cutters

Aluminum foil

a small A or AA battery - so long as the battery is cylindrical!

a plastic pipe (optional)

You could actually skip this step if the magnet you are using had some sort of metallic / conductive enclosure. But, I couldn't find any of that, so I salved the magnet off of one from a doohicky stuck to the fridge door. Make sure to tear off excess aluminum foil, and then roll it on a hard object (say a table) to keep the edges nice and flat.

Take a length of copper wire and shape it into a heart. You can use a small pipe to get the curves. The ends of the wire should be bent perpendicular to the symmetrical centre line of the heart shape. Those ends should also reach the other end of the battery.

1) Place the magnet + aluminum foil onto the table

2) place the battery positive side down onto the magnet

3) take the dip of the wire and place it on the negative side of the battery. Make sure the free ends of the wire make contact with the aluminum foil of the magnet, but aren't pressing up on it. In fact, make sure there is a small gap between the free ends of the wire and the magnet.

4) tap the copper wire so that it make contact with aluminum foil, annnnnnd it should start to spin.

THATS IT!

Cheers

Happy Valentines Day :D