Electric motors exist to convert electricity into mechanical energy, also known as kinetic force. That’s expressed in the amount of torque a motor generates, and the speed at which that torque is generated: that’s the horsepower a motor possesses.
How Motors Work
Electric motors, including Baldor Electric Motors, accept either AC or DC, which stand for alternating or direct current. AC motors have the least to worry about, for two reasons. First of all, most if not all voltage is AC, and available at any regular outlet. DC is typically the kind of electricity utilized within phones, flashlights, and other battery-powered electronics, which is why these utilize AC to DC converters when being charged through an outlet.
Motors, however, are all powered through an alternating current. Basically, Baldor Electric Motors motors work through a stator and a rotor. The stator exerts a magnetic field on the rotor, which rotates accordingly. The two factors that matter in how a motor’s stator and rotor work are the running speed (rotations per millisecond) and the torque, or the power needed to start the motor as well as the machinery. Heavy gearboxes need more torque to get started due to the mass of rotating objects in them, for example.
How DC Motors Are Different
DC Baldor Electric Motors still work through the current reversion within the motor. However, unlike AC motors, which automatically have a current that alternates, DC motors run on a direct (and constant) current, and thus have an additional mechanism, called the commutator. As per Georgia State Uni, it’s a ring split through the middle used in a DC engine to switch direction of the received current when needed. Attached to it are spring-loaded carbon brushes, to facilitate the switch.
If the principle is the same, the question is this: what really is different? The difference is the source of voltage. DC motors require a direct current, which can come from a battery, for example. AC motors can use an outlet. The application of both depends on what kind of power generation is most useful and efficient for your mechanical process. Luckily, however, industrial suppliers provide both kinds of motors, from Baldor electric motors to other brandsas per your needs.
