Reciprocating electric motor

Okay kiddo, let's start with what a motor is. You know how your toy car runs because you push it forward by yourself? Well, a motor helps things move without you having to do it by yourself.

A reciprocating electric motor is a type of motor that moves back and forth. Think of it like a seesaw, where one side goes up and the other side goes down. Instead of a seesaw, though, the motor has something called a piston that moves in and out of a cylinder.

The piston is kind of like a cork in a bottle. When you push it inside, it takes up space and squishes the air in the cylinder. Squishing the air makes it more compressed and when you let go of the piston, the compressed air tries to go back to its original shape. This causes the piston to move back out of the cylinder.

Why does the piston moving back and forth make the motor work? Well, there are a few important parts that help turn the piston's movement into something useful. One of those parts is called a crankshaft. It's kind of like the handle on a bike that you pedal with your feet. The crankshaft turns the piston's back-and-forth movement into a circular motion which is what helps things move around.

Now there's something else that's important to know about a reciprocating electric motor. It's not just powered by air by itself. There's electricity involved too! An electric current runs through the motor and powers a magnet. When the magnet gets turned on, it pushes and pulls the piston inside the cylinder, helping it move back and forth. This is why we call it an "electric" motor.

All of these different parts work together to make the motor do what it needs to do. Maybe it powers a car or helps a robot move around. Whatever it's used for, the important thing is that it can do a lot of work without us having to push anything ourselves!