<p>Provided is a small size and light weight linear motor having small propulsive force fluctuations, in which the magnetic attraction working between an armature and a movable element is canceled out and therefore is small. A propulsion force generation mechanism comprises a stator (3) and a movable element (5). The movable element (5) includes permanent magnets (4) installed in a row so that the magnetic poles at the front and back sides of the magnets are alternately reversed along a traveling direction. The stator (3) includes upper and lower pole teeth (6, 7) having a plurality of magnetic poles (2) and disposed so as to sandwich the permanent magnets (4) of the movable element (5), cores for connecting the pole teeth, and a winding (1) wound around a set of a plurality of the cores. Propulsive force fluctuations are reduced by adjusting the magnetic pole pitch (Pc) of the magnetic poles (2).</p>
