DC motor

Workings of a brushed electric motor with a two-pole rotor (armature) and permanent magnet stator. "N" and "S" designate polarities on the inside axis faces of the magnets; the outside faces have opposite polarities. The + and - signs show where the DC current is applied to the commutator which supplies current to the armature coils
The Pennsylvania Railroad's class DD1 locomotive running gear was a semi-permanently coupled pairing of third rail direct current electric locomotive motors built for the railroad's initial New York-area electrification when steam locomotives were banned in the city (locomotive cab removed here).

A DC motor is an electrical motor that uses direct current (DC) to produce mechanical force. The most common types rely on magnetic forces produced by currents in the coils. Nearly all types of DC motors have some internal mechanism, either electromechanical or electronic, to periodically change the direction of current in part of the motor.

DC motors were the first form of motors widely used, as they could be powered from existing direct-current lighting power distribution systems. A DC motor's speed can be controlled over a wide range, using either a variable supply voltage or by changing the strength of current in its field windings. Small DC motors are used in tools, toys, and appliances. The universal motor, a lightweight brushed motor used for portable power tools and appliances can operate on direct current and alternating current. Larger DC motors are currently used in propulsion of electric vehicles, elevator and hoists, and in drives for steel rolling mills. The advent of power electronics has made replacement of DC motors with AC motors possible in many applications.


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