In high school I learned that gas for coal, wind for wind mill, and tide for water, cause a turbine to spin and that powers an electrical generator and then boom we have electricity. What I want to know is how does the generator convert the kinetic energy of the turbine into electrical energy.
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So. It has to do with how electricity and magnetism are intertwined.
To put it simply, if a magnetic field moves across wires, the magnetic field can induce a current in the wire, “pushing” the electrons along the wire.
So, in a generator, at the very simplest, you have a magnet on a shaft, that shaft is then attached to the windmill or hydroelectric turbine or the turbines in goal or gas plants, and then wrap wire around them in a big coil, you can convert the spinning energy of the turbine into electrical energy, by spinning the magnet inside the coil, which induces and electric current.
Electric motors (like those in a toy car, or a Tesla, or a fan) actually work the same exact way, but in reverse. Instead of a moving magnet inducing an electric current, you can use an electric current to make a magnet move.
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