Tiny charges need a push and a complete path to flow through a wire. You wrap a nail with wire and attach a reed switch to a matchbox to build a circuit with a battery. The battery supplies the push, and charges flow through the wire whenever the reed switch completes the path.

A reed switch is a tiny glass tube with metal contacts inside. A nearby magnet pulls those metal contacts closed to complete a circuit. In this project, a nail wrapped in wire becomes an electromagnet. Each time a spinning magnet passes the reed switch, the magnetic field pulls the contacts together, closing the circuit.

A circuit is a loop that lets power flow from a source, through a wire, to run something. In this motor, a reed switch — a tiny glass tube with metal contacts inside — controls that loop. When a magnet on the spinning cork passes the switch, it flips the contacts closed and completes the circuit. As little as 1.5 volts from a battery is enough to keep the cork spinning, with each magnet triggering a fresh push as it passes the switch.

A nail wrapped in wire becomes an electromagnet, and two magnets mounted on opposite sides of a cork provide the rotating force. When the cork spins, each magnet passes the reed switch and triggers a magnetic push. That repeating push keeps the shaft turning — the same principle that drives every electric motor. The cork runs on as little as 1.5 volts, with six volts giving more reliable operation as long as the battery has charge.

Running electric current through wire wrapped around a nail turns it into an electromagnet that can push or pull other magnets. This magnetic force can drive motion. In a reed switch motor, each spinning magnet passes the reed switch and triggers a magnetic push from the electromagnet, keeping a cork spinning on its axle.