A recent discovery could potentially lead to the creation of a permanent magnet motor. Not to be confused with perpetual motion machines which are not physically possible. Magnets are already an essential part of many motors, it’s just a matter of figuring out how to make those magnets do the work for us. Your Average Electric Motor The typical electric motor uses an external power source passing through a rotor field to serve as an electromagnet attracted to the permanent magnet, causing the motor to revolve. In order to sustain this rotation, the rotor field reverses the polarity of the magnetic field of the electromagnet thus causing repulsion which in turn repels the electromagnet into motion. A Permanent Magnet Motor On the other side of things, instead of the electromagnets causing rotation by being attracted to the permanent magnet, a permanent magnet motor uses the permanent magnets to provide magnetic fields that interact with the rotor fields to create torque. This method eliminates energy consumption by eliminating need to power the stator. Permanent magnet motors use rare earth magnets which can be up to two times more powerful than traditional ferrite magnets. These magnets are used in MRI machines, portable electronic devices, hysteresis clutches, and accelerometers. There have been many attempts to produce a motor that relies solely on permanent magnets to generate magnetic fields for both the stator and the rotor. And while this discovery could lead to the commercial creation of a permanent magnet motor, it hasn’t yet. What’s standing in the way? The Issue Dr. Kenneth Kozeka explains that while two magnets pulling themselves together could do work for us, like rotating a motor, that energy would then have to be spent pulling the two magnets back apart in order to start the process over. Will we ever conquer this problem? While the permanent magnet motor would be an incredible advance in technology, many scientists dismiss it as an impossibility, as it goes against the laws of physics. What do you think? Is a permanent magnet motor possible? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter and Facebook! And make sure to read about more magnetic discoveries across the rest of our blog.