Homopolar Dragonfly
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- Опубликовано: 17 сен 2007
- A wireform dragonfly with a built-in vibrating helical homopolar motor, which interacts to produce an audio-visual spark of life!
Using only a neodymium magnet, AA battery and one length of copper wire, Nature and Technology become melded in a simplistic embrace.
The homopolar motor works from the principle of the Lorentz force, discovered about 150 years ago. Basically, it states that when current flows through a conductor in a magnetic field it will experience a force
on the charges in the conductor, producing torque.
For Homopolar Motor Kits, order from the good folks at the American Stirling Engine website. www.stirlingengine.com/ecommer...
For cool supermagnet movies visit my RUclips channel.
/ mrfixitrick
I like to buy my neodymium magnets at:
www.kjmagnetics.com/default.as...
A new understanding of magnetism will radically change our world, as presented by nuclear engineer Mehran Keshe:
• Keshe 1 intro and gravity
Visit Mrfixitrick's Instructables site at:
www.instructables.com/member/m...
Check out the Keshe Foundation for the best new solutions in energy, transportation and health...magnetic, plasma-based, and literally out-of-this-world !
www.keshefoundation.org/
Keshe Foundation Intro • Keshe Foundation Promo... 
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I know, and thanks for the safety reminders. For such simple devices, supermagnets and strong batteries can still poke yer eye out!
Yes, for one brief but glorious moment, it will work.
Dragonfly's thoughts just made my day :D
that is one of the coolest things i have seen on youtube besides explosions
That's really cool! I have never seen one of these before.
Genius!
You have indeed inspired me to play with battery's & magnets :-)
Cheers man.
this is quite beautiful I must say ^^ I love how the motor actually produces the buzzing sound resembling the dragonfly
(all my homopolar motors are pretty silent...)
Man you got some serious copper bending talents..... Good Job
Good question! It has to do with a principle called the Lorentz force. It basically states that a conductor with a current flowing through it, in a magnetic field, will experience a force on it.
In this case, the wire conductor experiences an upward or downward force, depending on the polarity of battery and magnet. When the coil contracts and moves upward, it jumps off its contact, expands, then reconnects electrically and contracts again. This happens many times a second to make the vibe!
Good work!
Dude, love your videos
Keep up the good job!
Really cool man.
Wonderful ideal & execution.
Yes, the dragonfly (and butterflies in the latest movie) are made from one continuous piece of wire. It begins with a spiral coil at the tail and ends with a spiral coil around the battery.
My latest movie "Animated Dragonflies and Butterflies" shows 8 of them that I was commissioned to build.
Dragonfly symbolises "after life" 😊 this is great 🌞🌞💓
nice work. I truly like the marriage of science with art!
You would have won that bet! The sound was very important to the effect.
Knowledge linked with art! :)
nice it makes the sound too!
wow, very nice dragonfly
Now THAT is cool.... I love it,,,,
That's really cool. I might make one.
This homopolar dragonfly is worthy of a final year paper...in many disciplines of science! There are electrical, magnetic, and mechanical principles involving the Lorentz force, magnetic fields, electrical solenoid effect, spring dynamics. Also, this device transmits radio waves due to the sparking effects and wings as antenna!
There are many aspects of physics measurements that could be done. Note the dragonfly can be any object instead, and the entire device can be made of one piece of wire!
That's right. It must be powerful and conduct electricity, as only the neodymium supermagnets can do. We are lucky to be alive at this point in history!
Totally cool. And cute.
nice!! very creative
Yes, the left hand law works. The angle of the coil gives forces in two directions; a rotational force, and an upward force.
wow that is really cool, great video :)
This neodymium magnet came out of a shake-flashlight, and is about 9/16 inch diameter and about the same high. A popular 1/2" x 1/2" neodymium magnet will work as well, but I find less burnt fingers using a 9/16" because the coil removes from the battery easier.
I normally get magnets online at K&J magnetics (link in the "show more" box), but for this experiment I used the magnet from inside a shake-to-charge flashlight.
@sikkco
I use a nail as a temporary core and wrap the copper wire around it, then form the wings, eyes, etc.,...all from one continuous piece of wire.
The coil touches the neodymium super-magnet on the bottom and completes the circuit, creating a torque that turns and vibrates the dragonfly.
The neodymium magnet is the main piece to get, either online from K&j Magnetics or Supermagnetman, or buy a shake flashlight at the dollar store or wal-mart and tear it apart. Some say a hard-drive magnet will work too.
Nice deagonfly
This experiment requires a powerful neodymium magnet like the one shown. They are available online from a place like K&J Magnetics.
This experiment requires a neodymium magnet in the size of 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch or bigger. Preferably in N48 to N52 strength range. They can be found online at K&J magnetics (link in "show more" box) or other online magnet suppliers.
WOOW, que respuesta más completa, muchas gracias y excelente video, sigue así :D
brilliant
Most of the time, the ring around the lens will screw off with some force. However, sometimes the lens ring is sealed on, and the other end of the shake-flashlight has to be hacksawed off to access the magnet.
coolest thing ever. much bueno.
Cute!
And your comment made my day! Thanks!
That'll scare off the mosquitoes! Good work!
hells yeah!
@SiXReDFlags
The copper wire turns due to what is called the Lorentz principle. Basically, the current in the wire forms an electromagnetic field which interacts with the field of the magnet, producing torque. See "Lorentz Force" and "Homopolar Generator" in Wikipedia for more information.
@MrfixitRick : I think that is a brilliant idea,,,, I´m too busy rigth now, but I will give it a try later..... thankyou very much for sharing the idea.
It works by the Lorentz force, which is the principle behind the homopolar motor.
Basically, the current flows through the copper wire, which creates an electromagnetic field which is repelled or attracted to the magnetic field of the magnet.
Because the wire is coiled, there is an additional component which causes the coils to compress, lose contact, release, make contact and compress again, producing the jumping action.
Yes, the neodymium magnet is on the bottom. But there is no needle...the dragonfly and coil are all one piece of wire. The wire end sticks down and contacts the battery + terminal. The coil contacts the magnet, completing the electric circuit. and expands with the current flow, causing the intermittent vibration effect (when tweaked just right.) Otherwise I can get it to simply rotate without the buzzing as well.
@MrfixitRick Oh yea I never though of the factor of the friction caused by the wire sticking to the magnet itself, very insightful.
Thanks for the "fantastic" comment!
This dragonfly creation was one of my first attempts at making homopolar motors, (and videos!), and is one of my personal favorites.
The original energizer dragonfly, copper-topped!
Hooking up jumper cables to a car battery would pick things up considerably...until the magnet blew up, of course!
thats kinda neat
It went November 2008, December, and February 2009 for the K&J Newsletters. They are in the middle of moving so I think things are erratic.
@MrfixitRick it is the dragonfly that flies up to 60MPH, or 100km/h
beautiful........ :)
The ticking clock is nice.
Technically, the magnetic field doesn't have to be the same part as the commutator. The magnetic field doesn't even need to rotate. But you will need to use a coin or some other conducting contact surface between the bottom battery negative and the copper wire coil.
Neodymium is a rare-earth element and it's used with iron and some other elements to form supermagnets.
You can get them from K&G Magnetics (link in the "more info" to the right>>>.)
Or you can break into a shake-type flashlight, bought cheap from a dollar store, and use the magnet inside it for many kinds of homopolar motor experiments.
If you look really close, the wings actually do flap from the vibration. I thought I should use some clear plastic film on the wings for more effect.
A cube or other shape can be used instead of a disc or cylinder, but the motion may be more erratic or hard to control.
This will run for about five or ten minutes on an AA battery. It has to be tweaked just right, so it doesn't overheat the wire and kill the battery fast.
ha ha, it even SOUNDS like a dragon fly!
Strangely enough, this video has just become my most popular!
Even stranger is that I just started making dragonflies for the first time since this video came out a year and a half ago. I will make a "How-To" video of the process soon.
Basically, I use a piece of coathanger wire in a vise as an arbour, and wrap about 60 turns of 20 gage wire onto it to form the main body. This gets removed from the arbour later. Then eyeballs are formed, wings, etc.
All one continuous piece of wire. Tricky!
Damn Physics i love it : D
awersomeeee
it was an energizer bunny hahaha
They may have them. It must be a neodymium magnet to be strong enough to work, and preferably more than 1/2 inch diameter.
Shake-type flashlights have magnets too.
@wiimasterplayer
Steel components have more electrical resistance for the same cross-section, causing more heat than other better conductors.
Homopolar motors draw high current, and can heat up severely. That's why the latest naval ships have 50,000 horsepower homopolar motors that use super cool supercooled superconductors.
Yes, it's almost shockingly simple...a magnet, a battery, and a piece of copper wire!
The dragonfly figure, complete with coil spring, can be made with just one piece of copper wire.
The effect will work with aluminum wire as well. It won't work with steel wire (it sticks!).
@Bizorke
Steel wire will stick to the magnet excessively, causing drag and stopping the motor. Other non-magnetic wire will work fine. The better the conductor (less resistance), the better it will work.
I think the lithium ones are the more explosive. I use NiMH, which are somewhat safer.
However, the homopolar motors do take a lot of current, and it is indeed good advice to run for only brief runs so as to not overheat the battery. Also, wear eye protection for stray magnet pieces, sparks...and possible explosion!
Neodymium magnets work good because they are powerful and conduct electricity. There are other rare-earth magnets that may work, but are not so readily obtainable.
As for other-worldly magnets, consider lodestone, which comes from meteors.
very very nice dragonfly ;) btw, it remains me radar locator a bit heh :) ..very interesting
Yes, it took some tweaking to get the right effect, and hard to duplicate exactly each time. The wings seem to vibrate at about the correct frequency. Soon I will build a lighter one with covered wings....perhaps it will take off!!
anyone who puts this guy down is a jerk! that's cool as heck! Now, tell me how you make one, cuz I want one!!
Don't call me a magnet boy, and I refuse to be fixed. They fixed my dog and he was never the same.
@DK8380
The magnets from ThinkGeek similar to the one in this video would be the "Super Strong Neodymium Magnets" pack. It has four of the 1 inch by 1/8 inch neo discs that could be stacked to act similar to the 5/8 inch magnet in this video.
Other sources include shake-type flashlights, some craft or hardware stores, and on-line sources such as K&J Magnetics.
It would likely become a fire-breathing dragon flying!
@pandemic4tw
That's right; thanks for the hint! (note, just a light tap with the hammer, or it will poke a hole in the battery terminal.)
@StrangeWorldFilms
Definitely not bipolar. Bipolar is common among motors. The unusual homopolar motor is sometimes called "unipolar". I almost called this movie "Unipolar Dragonfly".
Exactly.
wonderfull
;)
@2830swcoll
The dragonfly vibrates and makes noise due to the Lorentz force on the coils as they make and break connection with the conductive magnet.
Thats a trip!
I'm planning on making a wire hula dancing chic from this homopolar motor. Will post a vid when its successful. Others are free to give a shot too :)
"look ma, i can fly!"
lulz :3
The annotation reminded me of the Scout
@JazzyMagician
The Dragonfly is a symbol of transformation and change.
Also check out my "Animated Dragonflies and Butterflies" movie for more Dragonflies!
This magnet is from a shake-type flashlight found at a dollar store.
Otherwise, magnets can be ordered from K & J Magnetics, or a kit with wire, magnets and batteries from Stirling Engine. Links are in the "more info". >>>
@redyoshi1985
Even Michael Faraday, the inventor of the homopolar motor, didn't understand how it worked. It was 30 years after his death that the Lorentz Force Law was developed which explains this motor better.
One of the best sources of info on the homopolar motor is wikipedia under "homopolar generator".
Thanks now the wife wants one !!!! What's one more project.
I discovered that a coil of copper wire will oscillate when connected to a battery.
The weight of the dragonfly pushes down on the coil spring, which contacts the battery, creating an electric and magnetic field in the coil. The energized coil pushes the dragonfly up, disconnecting the contact at the battery. The dragonfly comes back down, the contact is made at the battery, and the cycle starts again.
It took some tweaking to get it just right!
Check out my "Homopolar Bee and Flower" too.
Hehe, it's hard to be simple, but that is what I specialize in!
dude, cool science wise but adding the artistic concept was tres cool.
Check out my newest Dragonfly movie with 5 of them at once! and 3 butterflies as well...
RUclips /watch?v=dCV2S_s6DkI
Hehe, thanks!
All but 4 of my 40 videos have either batteries or magnets!
I invite folks to play with magnets...we need to increase magnet-consciousness!!
cool
they should have a real life ride version. lol
That would be a wicked fan...opps, that's your name...well, then obviously YOU should be the one to build it!
@HITTHEROAD19
Thanks for paying attention to detail!
The original comment I wrote down was "Does everything in your life suck ?", but then I changed it to, "Do you feel that everything in your life sucks?". I accidentally left in the "Does".
I deleted the statement to prevent further confusion as to my English, and I promise to wear my glasses for future comments.
@MrSporeowns
This motor can run for up to half an hour, but more likely will last for only a few minutes.