AC Motors allowed for the long range distribution of alternating current. AC Motors are currently used for a variety of different systems. In many 3rd world countries, primitive AC motors are used to provide electricity to towns and villages. However, nowadays, AC motors are also in common household appliances such as “vacuum cleaners, food mixers, blenders, small power tools and hair dryers and other appliances that operate at high speed but are not used continuously”. AC motors can also be found in the ever popular Hybrid car. Tesla Motors based in California hope to start selling their completely AC electric car. Therefore, AC Motors which were just used for the distribution of electricity, are now used in many different systems.


The AC Motor which was created by Nicolas Tesla was an induction motor. Most AC motors are made of a rotor (also known as a armature) and a stator which connected to the poly-phase energy source. The two phase motors usually included two pairs of coil one for each of the two phases of AC. The motor worked by creating a permanent rotating magnetic field which dragged the rotor around to make the motor produce current. In the 19th century, when Tesla invented his ac generator, he was attempting to propose an alternate to the commonly used method of Direct Currents, during the late 18th century when Tesla invented his motor, his innovation was ignored as were satisfied with using DC current at that time, but overtime it all changed as AC current won the battle over DC current.


References:
http://www.zycon.com/Design-Info/Electric-Motors/Electric-Motors.asp
http://www.teslamotors.com/efficiency/how_it_works.php