Electrostatic Motor or Capacitor Motor
Today the electrostatic
motor finds frequent use in micro-mechanical (MEMS) systems where
their drive voltages are below 100 volts, and where moving charged
plates are far easier to fabricate than coils and iron cores.
Also, the molecular machinery which runs living cells is often based
on linear and rotary electrostatic motors.
An electrostatic motor or capacitor motor is a type of electric motor
based on the attraction and repulsion of electric charge. Usually,
electrostatic motors are the dual of conventional coil-based motors.
They typically require a high voltage power supply, although very
small motors employ lower voltages. Conventional electric motors
instead employ magnetic attraction and repulsion, and require high
current at low voltages. In the 1750s, the first electrostatic motors
were developed by Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Gordon.
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