In Simplest Terms, A Dynamo Is Essentially An Electric Motor

dynamos In simplest terms, a dynamo is essentially an electric motor run in reverse. The electric motor uses magnets spinning in a metal coil to spin an axle. Conversely, spinning the axle causes the magnets to rotate in the coil and generates an electric current moving away from the motor. A cool experiment to try is to buy a small motor from radio shack and put it to your tongue. Spin it and you will feel a slight tingle coming from the connectors. This is known as the Faraday effect. Look up this effect to gain a fuller understanding of motors and dynamos. A dynamo, originally another name for an electrical generator, now means a generator that produces direct current with the use of a commutator. Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power for industry, and the foundation upon which many other later electric-power conversion devices were based, including the electric motor, the alternatingcurrent alternator, and the rotary converter. They are rarely used for power generation now because of the dominance of alternating current, the disadvantages of the commutator, and the ease of converting alternating to direct current using solid state methods. The word still has some regional usage as a replacement for the word generator. In the UK, a small electrical generator built into the hub of a bicycle wheel to power lights is called a Hub dynamo.

Description The dynamo uses rotating coils of wire and magnetic fields to convert mechanical rotation into a pulsing direct electric current through Faraday's law. A dynamo machine consists of a stationary structure, called the stator, which provides a constant magnetic field, and a set of rotating windings called the armature which turn within that field. On small machines the constant magnetic field may be provided by one or more permanent magnets; larger machines have the constant magnetic field provided by one or more electromagnets, which are usually called field coils. The commutator was needed to produce direct current. When a loop of wire rotates in a magnetic field, the potential induced in it reverses with each half turn, generating an alternating current. However, in the early days of

electric experimentation, alternating current generally had no known use. The few uses for electricity, such as electroplating, used direct current provided by messy liquid batteries. Dynamos were invented as a replacement for batteries. The commutator is a set of contacts mounted on the machine's shaft, which reverses the connection of the windings to the external circuit when the potential reverses, so instead of alternating current, a pulsing direct current is produced.