The chief aim of electric motors is to convert energy from electronic to mechanical. This can be done in two ways: through DC electricity or AC electricity, AC and DC referring to the direction of flow of electrons along the conductor. In AC electric motors the electrons involved flow along the alternate current meaning the electrons regularly switch directions, alternately flowing backwards and forwards while in case of DC motors they flow along direct current, that is, their constant flow is in the forward direction. DC electricity was first discovered by Thomas Edison while the discovery of AC is accredited to Nikolas Teklas.

AC electric motors generally comprises of two parts: the internal rotator that is meant to receive a torque from the rotating field and an external stator that is responsible for inducing a rotating magnetic field. Depending on the rotor used, AC motors can be of two types, namely induction motors as they use induction current for the production of magnetic field and synchronous motors that are independent of induction current. DC electric motors on the other hand constitutes of six basic components: a commutator, rotor, axle, field magnet, brushes and a direct supply of current. DC motors can again be divided into two categories depending on whether they are brushed or brushless.