A homopolar motor is a direct current electric motor with two magnetic poles, the

conductors of which always cut unidirectional lines of magnetic flux by rotating a

conductor around a fixed axis so that the conductor is at right angles to a static
magnetic field. The resulting EMF (Electromotive Force) being continuous in one
direction, the homopolar motor needs no commutator but still requires slip rings.[1]
The name homopolar indicates that the electrical polarity of the conductor and the
magnetic field poles do not change (i.e., that it does not require commutation).

The homopolar motor is driven by the Lorentz force. A conductor with a current flowing through
it when placed in a magnetic field which is perpendicular to the current feels a force in the
direction perpendicular to both the magnetic field and the current. This force provides a torque
around the axis of rotation.[9] Because the axis of rotation is parallel to the magnetic field, and the
opposing magnetic fields do not change polarity, no commutation is required for the conductor to
keep turning. This simplicity is most readily achieved with single turn designs, which makes
homopolar motors unsuitable for most practical applications.
Like most electro-mechanical machines, a homopolar motor is reversible: if the conductor is
turned mechanically, then it will operate as a homopolar generator, producing a direct current
voltage between the two terminals of the conductor. The direct current produced is an effect of
the homopolar nature of the design. Homopolar generators (HPGs) were extensively researched
in the late 20th century as low voltage but very high current DC power supplies and have
achieved some success powering experimental railguns.
In physics (particularly in electromagnetism) the Lorentz force is the combination of electric
and magnetic force on a point charge due to electromagnetic fields. If a particle of charge q
moves with velocity v in the presence of an electric field E and a magnetic field B, then it will
experience a force (in SI units). Variations on this basic formula describe the magnetic force on
a current-carrying wire (sometimes called Laplace force), the electromotive force in a wire loop
moving through a magnetic field (an aspect of Faraday's law of induction), and the force on a
charged particle which might be travelling near the speed of light (relativistic form of the Lorentz
force). The first derivation of the Lorentz force is commonly attributed to Oliver Heaviside in
1889,[1] although other historians suggest an earlier origin in an 1865 paper by James Clerk
Maxwell.[2] Hendrik Lorentz derived it a few years after Heaviside.[citation needed]