justin_o_guy2 wrote on 03/14/17 at 11:40:56:I would happily sit through the
Theory of operation lecture.
The magnets on each end are the "permanent" magnets - just like the ones in a DC motor or the starter in your motorcycle.
The magnets touch each end of the battery - and they are also in contact with the coiled wire...and that makes a closed electrical circuit between the battery and the coiled wire.
When the battery/magnet is shoved into the coiled wire - the battery creates a magnetic field in the wire when the electric current from the battery passes though the wire (this energized field is located between the two ends of the battery).....and the magnets are pushed/pulled toward the field - but the field keeps moving down the wire as the same speed that the battery moves.....so the battery never catches up with the moving field.