How magnets generate electricity?
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> How magnets generate electricity?
What is electricity?
Electricity is electrons moving. That’s what it is. Metals in general have atoms that have very loose electrons; a chunk of metal basically has electrons that move [like a river among pebbles](https://o.quizlet.com/pUNp40EsHjg.unj29LmgPA.jpg) if you apply the slightest pull / force.
So the electromagnetic force is something that pulls or pushes on electric charges. All particles of matter have these fundamental properties, mass, charge, spin, etc., and then you have these forces, gravity pulls on mass, electromagnetism pulls on charges, and so on.
A particle that has a charge (like the electron for example) will generate an electrical force. If it’s moving, some of that electrical force will actually be felt as a magnetic force. That’s why we refer to it as “electromagnetism”, it’s two aspects of the same thing, like something that seems to be green or red just based on how you look at it.
Bottom line though, electrons are definitely affected by electromagnetic forces, and will start moving immediately if they can. In a chunk of metal, the electrons definitely can move, so the process is called [electromagnetic induction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_induction). In something like a plastic, the atoms have [too much space](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Polypropylene_isotactic_mini_trp.png) between them so the electrons CANNOT move easily from atom to atom.
That’s why metals are conductors, and plastics are insulators.
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