3-phase AC
＜How Does a Motor Work? (2)＞

Actual Motor Operation

Here we see an actual method used for rotating a motor by generating a rotational magnetic field from a 3-phase AC source and conductive coils (3-phase AC is an AC signal with phases shifted 120°).

• The synthetic magnetic field in ① above is shown in ① below
• The synthetic magnetic field in ② above is shown in ② below
• The synthetic magnetic field in ③ above is shown in ③ below

As mentioned above, the 3 phase coils (U, V, and W) are wrapped around an iron core, positioned 120° apart, with the higher voltage generated at the North pole(N) and the lower voltage at the South pole(S). Since each phase varies sinusoidally, the pole (N/S) generated from each coil will continue to change, along with the magnetic field.

If we look at just the North pole phase, it switches in order from the U coil → V coil → W coil → U coil, enabling rotation.