Generators and Motors Vocabulary

Flashcards covering generators, motors, and related components.

Brush

A carbon mechanism used to supply power to the rotating part of a machine called a rotor.

Brushes

Slide across the commutator, making and breaking contact with the armature windings.

Brushed motors

Motors that are noisy but cheaper than brushless motors.

Commutator

A rotary electric switch in certain types of electric motors and electric generators that periodically reverses current direction.

Rotor

The rotating part in an AC motor, electric generator, or alternator. The rotor is the rotating or moving part of an electric machine.

What are the three major parts of a typical rotor found in an electric machine?

(1) rotor core, (2) rotor shaft, and (3) rotor winding

Rotor rotation movement

Interaction between the windings and magnetic fields producing torque around the rotor axis.

Alternator

Any AC electrical generator, but usually the term refers to small rotating machines driven by automotive and other internal combustion engines.

Magneto

An alternator that uses a permanent magnet for its magnetic field.