A Motor That Doesn’t Spin? Build Your Own Maglev Train at Home and Feel the Physics!
I’m Science Trainer Ken Kuwako. Every day is an experiment.
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Here’s a fun experiment you can even use for a science fair project to discover what powers a linear motor train.
What if someone told you there’s a vehicle that can travel at 600 km/h (about 370 mph) without using wheels? Sounds unbelievable, right? Even more surprising, the same force that drives it can be recreated at home using nothing more than aluminum foil and a few magnets.
A Motor That Doesn’t Spin? Meet the Linear Motor
Most trains move because their wheels rotate. A linear motor train, however, works in a completely different way. Instead of spinning wheels, it glides forward while floating above the track. As its name suggests, it uses a “linear” motor that creates motion in a straight line.
An ordinary electric motor converts electricity into rotational motion. A linear motor skips the spinning altogether and produces straight-line motion from the start. Watching something move powerfully and smoothly as if pushed by an invisible hand is fascinating for both kids and adults.
In this experiment, you’ll experience the same basic principle using just five simple materials. Grab some aluminum foil and magnets, and explore the invisible force behind one of the world’s fastest trains!
Let’s Build a “Linear Motor Bar”!
In this activity, a thin aluminum foil tube—the “bar”—will suddenly shoot across a row of magnets at an amazing speed.
Science Recipe:
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- Aluminum foil
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- 10 or more ferrite magnets (available at most dollar stores)
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- A plastic writing board or clipboard
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- Double-sided tape
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- Scissors
- One AA battery (or a hand-crank generator)
How to Do the Experiment:
① Attach the magnets to the board.
Use double-sided tape to stick the magnets in a straight line with all the south poles facing upward.
Use as many as you like, but 10 or more works best!
② Flip the board over and attach the aluminum foil rails.
Cut two strips of aluminum foil about 1 cm wide. Turn the board over so the magnets face downward. Place the foil strips above the row of magnets so they form two parallel rails, then secure them with double-sided tape.
③ Make the “bar.”
Using an empty ballpoint pen refill or something similar as a mold, roll a strip of aluminum foil into a tube about 5 cm long and roughly 5 mm in diameter. It doesn’t have to be exact.
Just roll it up nice and tight!
④ Place the bar on the rails and send electricity through them.
Set the aluminum tube across the rails and connect the battery.
A single 1.5 V battery is enough. As soon as current flows, the aluminum bar suddenly shoots forward at incredible speed! If you use a hand-crank generator, you can even control the speed by how fast you turn the handle. Check out the video below.
Here’s another cool part: reverse the battery, and the bar races off in the opposite direction. It’s almost as if it’s responding to your commands!
So what’s happening?
The secret is the electromagnetic force. When electric current flows through the aluminum bar inside the magnetic field created by the magnets, a force acts on the bar. That force pushes it straight along the line of magnets instead of making it spin. Reverse the direction of the current by flipping the battery, and the force reverses too—so the bar travels the other way.
From a Tiny Experiment to a 600 km/h Train
The very same electromagnetic force that launches your little aluminum foil bar is what propels a real linear motor train at 600 km/h. In an actual maglev train, powerful superconducting magnets on the train interact with coils built into the track, generating enough force to both lift and drive the train forward without wheels.
Isn’t it amazing that a tabletop experiment and one of the world’s most advanced transportation systems rely on exactly the same scientific principle?
If your experiment doesn’t work the first time, try adding more magnets or making the aluminum tube lighter. Experimenting and improving your design is part of the fun!
As an extra challenge, can you figure out how to make the linear motor bar travel in a complete loop instead of a straight line? It’s a great engineering puzzle to tackle together with family or friends.
Give it a try and bring a little piece of future transportation into your own home!
Did you know that linear motors are also used in something much more familiar—electric shavers?
Questions, Collaborations, and More
Science is full of surprises, and it’s even more exciting when you can experience it yourself! This site is packed with fun, easy-to-follow science experiments you can try at home, along with practical tips and explanations.
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