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The Amazing Motor That Draws Power From the Air
Ben Franklin invented it 223 years ago. Now we’re finding overlooked possibilities in the electrostatic motor.
By C. P. GILMORE / PS Executive Editor and WILLIAM j. HAWKINS / PS Electronics Editor.
Would you believe an electric motor made almost entirely of plastic? That can run on power transmitted through open air? And sneak free electricity right out of the earth’s electrical field?
At the University of West Virginia we saw a laboratory full of such exotic devices spinning, humming, and buzzing away like a swarm of bees. They are electrostatic motors, run by charges similar to those that make your hair stand on end when you comb it on a cold winter’s day.
Today, we use electromagnetic motors almost exclusively. But electrostatics have a lot of overlooked advantages. They’re far lighter per horsepower than electromagnetics, can run at extremely high speeds, and are incredibly simple and foolproof in construction.
Source: http://philosophers-stone.co.uk/wordpress/2014/08/the-amazing-motor-that-draws-power-from-the-air/
