Chapter 1, Problem 1.1HP

List five applications of electric motors in thecommon household.

To determine

To discuss:

Five applications of electric motors in the common household.

Explanation of Solution

An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. The electric motor has a rotating part, which rotates due to the interaction between the magnetic field and the electric current in the motor. Depending on the type of power source are mainly two types of electric motors, AC motors and DC motors.

The type of electric motors used depends upon the application for which they have been employed. The type of motor can be single-phase ac motor, three-phase ac motor, or a dc motor. The electric motors have a wide range of applications like industrial, commercial, and household applications.

The first household application of an electric motor is an electric fan. The electric motor employed in fan is single phase ac motor and consumes very less power, therefore, also called fractional kilowatt motor.

The second household application of electric motor is in the washing machine, which generally employs a universal motor that can operate both AC and DC power.

The third household application of the electric motor is in the air conditioner, which employs ac motor that operates at $220\text{V}$. This is used to radiate the heat from the cooling pipes of the air conditioner.

The fourth household application of the electric motor is in hairdryers, which employ a permanent magnet DC motor, which runs at a very high speed of $20000\text{rpm}\text{.}$

The fifth household application of the electric motor is in the refrigerator in which they are used to compress the coolant, as the most common type of motor used in HVAC applications is AC motor only.

Therefore, the five main applications of the electric motors in the household are electric fans, washing machines, air conditioners, hairdryers, and refrigerators.