Switch and motorTinkerPieCircuit tutorial 5 of 24 · Beginner · 10 minutes

Spin a DC motor with a battery and a switch, then make it spin the other way.

Open this circuit in TinkerPieCircuit (free, runs in your browser)

What you will learn

• How a motor joins a circuit
• Why swapping battery wires reverses a motor
• Why a motor needs a battery, not a pin

Parts

1 battery (3 V)1 slide switch1 DC motor

Steps

1. Build it

   Open the example. Battery + → switch → motor A, and motor B → battery −.

2. Spin it

   Press ▶ Start and click the switch. The fan blades turn.

3. Reverse it

   Delete the two battery wires and join them the other way round: battery − to the switch and battery + to motor B. The fan now turns the other way.

This circuit needs no code. It runs by itself when you open it.

How it works

A motor turns because current flows through it. When the current flows the other way, the motor turns the other way. Motors need much more current than a board pin can give, so they run from a battery.

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