An electric motor is a device that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. It works on the principle of electromagnetism.
The first electrical motor is known to have been invented by a Scottish monk Andrew Gordon, in the 1740s. His motor was a simple electrostatic device.
Almost a century later, British scientist Michael Faraday explained the conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy by means of electromagnetism. The motor he created through the experiments was primitive, but it paved the way for later inventions. In 1822, British physicist Peter Barlow invented the first device to be powered by electromagnetism – known as Barlow’s Wheel.
A decade later, British scientist William Sturgeon developed the first machine to be run on direct current. A few years after that, inventor Moritz Jacobi created the first real rotating electric motor that developed a remarkable mechanical output power. Frank Julian Sprague was the first to introduce a constant speed electric motor.
All these have together contributed to the advancement of engineering technology in the world.
