Rotating magnetic field and Ferraris motor
Campo magnético rotatorio y motor de Ferraris
- Date
- 1885-1888 · confidence high
- Place
- Turin, Piedmont, Italy
- Credited to
- Galileo Ferraris
- Field
- Matter & energy
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Ferraris showed in 1885 that two phase-shifted alternating currents in two coils produce a rotating field, and built a low-power induction motor. He published in 1888, shortly before Tesla's patents.
Priority was disputed with Tesla (who said he conceived the principle in 1882) and Bailey (1879). Ferraris published first; Tesla, unaware, patented the practical motor.
What it led to
- Tesla's induction motor and three-phase motors
- the induction meter (Ferraris principle)
- theory of alternating-current machines