Electric Motors

Depends on the motor. Lessons In Electric Circuits -- Volume II, Chapter 13: AC MOTORS

i thought it had to do with the magnetism of the brushes. since the brushes are what push the motor.

You just detach the connections and reconnect them the other way round and if that doesn't work you consult an expert.

It's different with three phase though. You have to be more patient.

It's three phase that's easy. Reverse any two wires, and backwards she runs. Single phase? I'm not sure it can be done. Best answer would be to look for a cheap gearing solution.

Well, with a simple single-phase AC motor, direction of rotation pretty much will be whichever direction it started rotating, something designers cope with in a variety of ways, most commonly involving capacitors to momentarily stagger startup voltage phase. Changing the orientation of the mains power leads will have no effect; you hafta`adjust the capacitor setup, so I s'pose the right answer would hafta be "None - the wires don't matter"

Thanks for your motor lesson link