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The fundamental principle upon which electromagnetic motors are based is the mechanical force on any wire when it is conducting electricity while contained within a magnetic field. In a rotary motor there is a spinning element, which is the rotor. The rotor rotates because the wires and magnetic field are arranged so that a torque is developed about the rotor's axis. One of the first electromagnetic rotary motors was invented by Michael Faraday in 1821, and consisted of a free-hanging wire dipping into a pool of mercury. A permanent magnet was placed in the middle of the pool. When a current was passed through the wire, the wire rotated around the magnet, showing that the current gave rise to a circular magnetic field around the wire.
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