Cool video: Worlds simplest “electric train” built with an AA battery, magnets, and copper wire
Saw this and thought it was cool. The theory behind it is interesting too.
Basically you are using the voltage in the battery to create a magnetic field in the section of the coil of wire that the battery is in. The magnets on either end serve two functions – they conduct the battery voltage to the coil, and they serve as the opposing magnetic force that the moving magnetic field pushes against.
(Published from Chicago, IL)