Fleming's Left-hand Rule For Motors

Fleming's Left-hand Rule For Motors

Fleming's left-hand rule (for motors), and Fleming's right-hand rule (for generators) are a pair of visual mnemonics. They were originated by John Ambrose Fleming, in the late 19th century, as a simple way of working out the direction of motion in an electric motor, or the direction of electric current in an electric generator.

When current flows in a wire, and an external magnetic field is applied across that flow, the wire experiences a force perpendicular both to that field and to the direction of the current flow. A left hand can be held, as shown in the illustration, so as to represent three mutually orthogonal axes on the thumb, first finger and middle finger. Each finger is then assigned to a quantity (electric current, magnetic field and mechanical force). The right and left hand are used for generators and motors respectively.

Read more about Fleming's Left-hand Rule For Motors:  Conventions, Distinction Between The Right-hand and Left-hand Rule, Physical Basis For The Rules

Famous quotes containing the words fleming, rule and/or motors:

    I could not get a rhyme for roman
    And was obliged to call him woman.
    —Marjory Fleming (1803–1811)

    When I came of age I did not know much. Still somehow, I could read, write, and cipher to the Rule of Three.... The little advance I now have upon this store of education, I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of necessity.
    Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)

    When General Motors has to go to the bathroom ten times a day, the whole country’s ready to let go. You heard of that market crash in ‘29? I predicted that.... I was nursing a director of General Motors. Kidney ailment, they said; nerves, I said. Then I asked myself, “What’s General Motors got to be nervous about?” “Overproduction,” I says. “Collapse.”
    John Michael Hayes (b. 1919)