How do spinning things like wind/water turbines or those spin to charge flash lights make electricity by just spinning?
In: Engineering
It is because of the phenomenon of “induction”. If you pass electric current through a conductor like a wire it will cause a magnetic field around it, like with the electromagnets you likely made in school. If a conductor is exposed to a changing magnetic field it will cause or “induce” an electric current to flow in the conductor.
Electric motors use current flow through coils of wire to create changing magnetic fields which spin the motor’s shaft. Electric generators spin coils of wire through magnetic fields to cause current in the wire. Spinning is a good way to pass wire through those fields, as it keeps everything in the same general area as opposed to continually shooting off in some direction.
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