Modeling and Simulation of a Tunnel Diode Motor

A simple electromechanical device called a tunnel diode motor was described in the "Amateur Scientist" section of the Scientific American [1]. From the construction details presented there a prototype was built with the idea that this would make a good example for the classroom. It has since been used twice in a graduate level course in digital computer simulation. This device has served well to illustrate typical problems in modeling and the automatic numerical solution of model equations.