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Lesson Plan

1. Introduction to Lorentz Force | Lessons 1–4
   Time: 2-3 weeks (605 minutes)
   • 2.0: Introduction to Unit 2
     This lesson serves to introduce students to the topics and goals of the unit and engage their interest.
   • 2.1: Introduction to Vectors
     Students learn to distinguish between scalars and vectors and understand how to define the magnitude and direction of vectors.
   • 2.2: Vector Mathematics + the Right Hand Rule
     Building off of the previous lesson, students should review concepts in vector arithmetic. Particular emphasis is placed on the cross product.
   • 2.3: Cross Product and Lorentz Law
     Now that students have reviewed the cross product, this lesson ties physical meaning to the right hand rule, where magnetic field is defined as the cross product in a current carrying wire.
   • 2.4: Trajectory of Particle vs. Sign of Charge
     Students learn how to relate the trajectory of point charges in a magnetic field with the sign of charge.
2. Mathematical Descriptions of Lorentz Force | Lessons 5–6
   Time: 1 week (220 minutes)
   • 2.5: Electromagnetic Induction (Faraday’s Law)
     Students learn how an electric field can be generated by changing the magnetic environment through Faraday’s law.
   • 2.6: Electromagnetic induction (Lenz’s Law)
     Students observe the copper tube experiment and to learn the concept of induction.
3. Introduction to the Electromagnetic Motor | Lessons 7–9
   Time: 1-2 weeks (330 minutes)
   • 2.7: Introduction to Motors
     Students are introduced to the basic working principle of a DC motor and its components.
   • 2.8: Torque and Power
     Equations for understanding torque and power in an electromagnetic motor are introduced long with their physical effects on the motor output.
   • 2.9: Electric Generators Generators are introduced as basically the inverse of a motor. The same device can have different functionality depending on the input.
4. Designing the Electromagnetic Motor | Lessons 10–13
   Time: 1 week (220 minutes)
   • 2.10: Designing the Electromagnetic Motor–a
   • 2.11: Designing the Electromagnetic Motor–b
   • 2.12: Designing the Electromagnetic Motor-c
     Lessons 2.10-a, 2.11-b and 2.12-c: Students design and build an EM motor. Each team makes their own motor while thinking about to design parameters (i.e., size of coil, its shape, the thickness of the coil, etc.) impact its performance.
   • 2.13: Motor Competition
     Students engage in a class-wide competition to determine different functionalities (i.e., who has the fastest motor, who has the slowest, which is the most creative shape that still works, etc.).
5. Real World Applications in Motors and Nanotechnology | Lessons 14–16
   Time: 1-2 weeks (330 minutes)
   • 2.14: Brushless Motors-a
     Students learn about a different type of motor design compared to the DC motors they built previously.
   • 2.15: Brushless Motors-b
     Students build and test components of brushless motor, they then compare and contrast its performance to the first motor they built.
   • 2.16: Moving toward the Nanoscale
     Students learn about motors in nanotechnology and how they work. This lesson is meant to provide perspective on current state of research in the field and may provide insight into research-oriented careers in STEM.

Translational Application of Nanoscale Multiferroics (TANMS)
Engineering Research Center (ERC)

TANMS ERC Leadership Team

University of California, Los Angeles

• Rick Ainsworth
• Jane Chang
• Maria del Pilar O’Cadiz

Mathematics Engineering Science and Math (MESA) Curriculum Specialist

University of California Office of the President’

MESA Programs Curriculum Specialist, UC Riverside

• Carlos Gonzalez

High School Teachers

• Nicole Ciccarello
• Veronica Galang
• Lyn Genota
• Daniel Pilloff

TANMS ERC Graduate Students

• Adrian Acosta
• Cai Chen
• Victor Estrada
• Kevin Fitzell
• Malcom Jackson
• Matthew McIntosh
• Shreya Patel
• Michael Sheng
• Stephen Sasaki
• Maggie Xiao

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• TANMS UCLA (2023), "TANMS/MESA Electromagnetism Unit 2: Fundamental Knowledge of Lorentz Force and Electric Motor," https://nanohub.org/resources/37268.

  BibTex | EndNote

1. electromagnetic fields
2. electromagnetics
3. magnets/magnetics
4. TANMS