Search coil by computer to determine displacement in multiple dimensions. Additionally, a second search coil can be added to measure torsional rotation. A more crude search coil also called exploring coil is also used in laboratory experiments in schools to measure the magnetic field in a certain region of space. In this case the search coil consists of a simple wire coil or solenoid connected to a sensitive ammeter or galvanometer. The coil is placed in the magnetic field to be measured and quickly withdrawn to a region of space with a negligible magnetic field. As the search coil moves the magnetic
Electric generator dynamo in 1861 (before Siemens and Wheatstone) but didn't patent it as he thought he wasn't the first to realize this. A coil of wire rotating in a magnetic field produces a current which changes direction with each 180° rotation, an alternating current (AC). However many early uses of electricity required direct current (DC). In the first practical electric generators, called "dynamos", the AC was converted into DC with a "commutator", a set of rotating switch contacts on the armature shaft. The commutator reversed the connection of the armature winding to the circuit every 180° rotation of the shaft, creating