Place a switch in the circuit so that the current may be turned on and off. Wind a string around the end of the armature shaft so that it may be revolved at high speed by pulling the string in somewhat the same manner that you would spin a top. When all is ready, give the string a sharp pull and immediately close the switch so that the alternating current flows into the field.
If this is done properly, the motor will continue to run at high speed, and furnish power if desirable.
Most of the alternating-current motors in every-day use for furnishing power for various purposes are induction motors. They are, however, self-starting, and provided with a hollow armature, which contains a centrifugal governor. When the motor is at rest or just starting, four brushes press against the commutator and divide the armature coils into four groups. After the motor has attained the proper speed, the governor is thrown out by centrifugal force and pushes the brushes away from the commutator, short-circuiting all the sections and making each coil a complete circuit of itself.
ELECTRO-PLATING
Water containing chemicals such as sulphate of copper, sulphuric acid, nitrate of nickel, nitrate of silver, or other metallic salts is a good conductor of electricity. Such a liquid is known as an electrolyte.
It has been explained in Chapter IV that chemical action may be used to produce electricity and that in the case of a cell such as that invented by Volta, the zinc electrode gradually wastes away and finally enters into solution in the sulphuric acid.
It is possible exactly to reverse this action and to produce what is known as electrolysis. If an electrolyte in which a metal has been "dissolved" is properly arranged so that a current of electricity may be passed through the solution, the metal will "plate out," or appear again upon one of the electrodes.
Electrolysis makes possible electro-plating and thousands of other exceedingly valuable and interesting chemical processes.
More than one-half of all the copper produced in the world is produced electrolytically.
Practically all plating with gold, silver, copper and nickel is accomplished with the aid of electricity.