Electric motors are used in a vast number of household items, and are essential for industry. Michael Faraday (1791-1867) introduced this revolutionary technology in 1821 when he successfully demonstrated the first electricity-driven motor, a discovery that led to a golden age in the application of electrical technology.
Faraday, son of a blacksmith, started his career as a chemist but soon became involved in many aspects of science, most notably electromagnetism. In 1813 he worked under chemist Humphry Davy at the Royal Institution, where he focused on the principle of electromagnetic rotation that would later be developed into the first electric motor. Following the recent discovery of the property of electromagnetism by the Dane Hans Oersted, Faraday showed that mechanical action could be derived from electromagnetic energy in 1821. He passed an alternating current (AC) through a wire suspended in a small cup of mercury with a magnet at the bottom.
The wire swung around the magnet at speed in a circular path, proving that the electrical current had generated a magnetic field around the wire, which interacted with the magnet, resulting in the wire moving.
Faraday presented his ideas to the Royal Society at the end of 1&31 and start of 1832. His findings greatly improved scientists' knowledge and understanding of electricity, magnetism, and how they interact. Faraday continued to explore the electromagnetic effect through experiments with batteries and electrolysis, but his work also inspired other scientists to explore the science behind electricity, ultimately culminating in the modern electric motor.
