How do electric current and magnetic fields create torque in an electric motor?

Electric motors generate mechanical torque through the interaction between electric current flowing through conductors and a magnetic field. This process is fundamentally based on the Lorentz force, which describes the force exerted on moving charged particles within a magnetic field.12

When a conductor carrying an electric current is placed within a magnetic field, the magnetic force acts on the moving charges. Because these charges are confined to the conductor, the force is transferred to the wire itself. The magnitude of this force is maximized when the direction of the current is at a right angle to the magnetic field.21

In a typical motor, this interaction creates a rotational force, or torque, that accelerates the rotor. For example, in a direct-current (DC) motor, current enters the armature coils and interacts with the magnetic flux produced by the stator poles to produce torque. In induction motors, a rotating magnetic field induces currents in the rotor conductors; these currents then interact with the magnetic field to produce torque in the same direction as the field's rotation.34