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Originally Posted by sanddrag
Hopefully Al will stumbe along this thread and give us a precise detailed answer  I've always wondered what happens to the electricity generated by a spinning motor (essentially a generator I suppose) that is not connected to anything. Does the electricity (for lack of a better term) dissapate into the air?
EDIT: Looks like Al beat me to the thread  But I'm still wondering about my question. |
The motor develops a "voltage potential" i.e. a measurable voltage, that is proportional to the RPM (DC brush motors). However, there is nothing dissipated just like the voltage potential at your wall outlet doesn't go anywhere. There is a small electrical principle known as 'open circuit voltage" that occurs. Since the voltage generated is not causing a current to flow, no voltage is dropped across the internal resistance of the motor. (essentially the resistance of the miles of wire in each armature coil) Since no voltage is dropped across the internal resistance, the voltage at the motor terminals can be pretty high. There are a lot of variables involved in generating voltage so it is hard to predict what open circuit voltage each motor will develop.