When you think of an electric motor, you probably think of a bunch of complex parts, such as gears, electrical components, and maybe even a device for the motor to drive, such as a remote control car or a drone.
But really, you can create the simplest of electrical motors with common household items. In this tutorial, using a large D-cell battery, some special magnet wire, two paperclips, a neodymium magnet, and some duct tape, you can create your own simple electric motor that can spin on its own using electromagnetic fields.
You'll need a razor blade to scratch off some of the coating on the magnet wire, and you'll also need some wire cutters to get the magnet wire to the precise length you want. Once you have that stuff, you can start constructing the mini electric motor using the guide in the video above.
This is a very cool experiment to try with the kids, but please, take care when using sharp objects not to cut yourself or harm yourself. Let the adults do the cutting.
