What.. alternates by them to recharge the battery? How is it recharging? In a gas car? While its off? I feel like an idiot!
In: Engineering
An alternator is basically an electric generator. When you move a conductor through a magnetic field it causes or “induces” an electric current in the conductor. This is called “electromagnetic induction”. Similarly when you pass a current through a conductor it creates a magnetic field around the conductor. This phenomenon can be used to take electric current and create movement such as with an electric motor, or to take movement and create electricity such as with an electric generator.
The gas car takes the movement created by the gasoline engine and uses it to turn an electric generator to make “alternating current” or AC, which is then converted to “direct current” or DC to charge the battery. It does this while the motor is running, not when it is turned off.
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