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Step 5Running the Motor.
Connect one wire to connect to a good Earth point - any bare metal part of the home plumbing system is good. If all your water pipes are plastic, poke the wire into th cold-water tap and let it trickle slowly. For your own safety, do not connect the motor to any part of your mains electrical supply.
Now you need a source of static electricity:
If you are lucky enough to own a Van der Graff generator (or you have made your own!), that would be perfect. The earth wire can be connected to the bottom dome of the generator. Otherwise, anything that generates static will do. Inflate a long balloon, rub it on your sweater, and then gently stroke its length down the end of the wire not connected to the Earth. Repeat. Gather several friends, also with balloons, and take turns to add charge to the machine. Lay a sheet of aluminium foil over the screen of a TV or monitor that crackles a lot when you switch it on and off, and use wire to connect the foil to your motor. The more static you can supply, the faster your motor will run. We ran six motors simultaneously from my Van der Graff generator.
Now you need a source of static electricity:
If you are lucky enough to own a Van der Graff generator (or you have made your own!), that would be perfect. The earth wire can be connected to the bottom dome of the generator. Otherwise, anything that generates static will do. Inflate a long balloon, rub it on your sweater, and then gently stroke its length down the end of the wire not connected to the Earth. Repeat. Gather several friends, also with balloons, and take turns to add charge to the machine. Lay a sheet of aluminium foil over the screen of a TV or monitor that crackles a lot when you switch it on and off, and use wire to connect the foil to your motor. The more static you can supply, the faster your motor will run. We ran six motors simultaneously from my Van der Graff generator.
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I bought a cheap refurb Van de Graaff off e-bay and it arrived today. The thing is, the generator makes so much electrostatic wind that a plain plastic cup will turn in any case - no need for the foil!
I made my rotor using mylar film from a crisp-bag (chip-bag if you are American) and it seemed to work very well. Turned when the other end of the wire was about a foot from the VdeG. No need to actually contact the dome.
I think the friction on the cup is just so low that it turns with the slightest breath. Certainly you don't need to be anywhere near contacting the dome once its charged up to make it spin (that's the rotor with the mylar strips). It wil easily turn a plain cup by the wind it produces, but you need to contact the dome for that one.
Connect the the Earth (or "ground") instead. Use a longer wire and touch it to bare metal on a cold-water pipe. The container of water will charge up, but not allow that charge to flow away. When it is as charged as the TV, the static will stop flowing, and the motor will stop.
just in case you didnt know
:-D