Lab

DC Motor Speed, Current and Stall Lab

A 12 V battery runs a DC motor through a switch and a 15 A fuse: about 3000 rpm and 1 A with no load. Lower the voltage, add load, reverse the battery or…

Preview of DC Motor Speed, Current and Stall Lab
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Use this circuit in class: DC motor experiment: speed, current and back-EMF

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How it works

A DC motor is a winding and a magnet: the current turns the rotor, and the turning rotor makes a back-EMF that pushes against the battery. That is why a free-running motor draws only about 1 A here, while a stalled one draws V ÷ R, up to 20 A at 12 V.

Change the battery voltage, the motor’s Load (%) and Locked rotor settings, or flip the battery, and read the speed, the current and the back-EMF on the motor’s labels. The 15 A fuse protects the motor if it stalls at full voltage.

What's inside

  • 1× Battery
  • 1× Switch
  • 1× Fuse
  • 1× DC Motor
  • Measured with Voltmeter/Ammeter

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About

By Samir Sabri
Saved November 09, 2026
3 views
Page: dcaclab.com/circuits/87937-dc-motor-speed-current-and-stall-lab

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Cite: Sabri, S. (2026). DC Motor Speed, Current and Stall Lab. DCACLab. https://dcaclab.com/circuits/87937-dc-motor-speed-current-and-stall-lab

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