Motors & Generators practical investigation ideas

[jon5555]

Hey everyone

I'm a physics student doing my last year of high school in Australia.
For an assessment task I have to do a practical investigation on electric motors and generators but I am a bit lost on this subject.
I need a few ideas that are easy to understand and prove/disprove using a simple 3 volt electric motor.
We've covered things like Faraday's Law, Lenz's Law and calculating EMF in class but I'm not sure what can easily be done for an investigation.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Jon

 

[atyy]

Investigate how the EMF varies with rotation speed and direction. Also what the direction of the EMF is (as judged perhaps by the direction of current).

Lenz's law is the most interesting - it prevents you from getting more energy out than you put in. Not sure off the top of my head how you would test that though.

 

[jon5555]

Thanks atyy. I will definitely investigate the emf. Sorry for my late reply. My net was down while changing providers.

Does anyone know how to use an electromagnetic field motor. I've got a kit and have followed the instructions but haven't been able to get it to work. When I use permanent magnets it works just fine. Here's a pic http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/346/2409081040kz5.jpg

Also, I'm still up for any ideas for DC motors. For this subject I am truly a lost cause