Lesson 9: Discovering electricity

What happened?

• A generator is simply a device that moves a magnet near a wire to create a steady flow of electrons.

• One simple way to think about a generator is to imagine it acting like a pump pushing water through a pipe. Only instead of pushing water, a generator uses a magnet to push electrons along.

Turning the Generator• Water is boiled and the steam is fed, at high pressure, to the

turbine. • A turbine acts like a fan in reverse; it takes the movement of

steam and converts it to the rotation of a shaft.

Electricity Production• A shaft connects the turbine to a generator.• The shaft has wire coiled around it and is surrounded by an

electromagnet.• When the turbine turns, the wire coil is rotated in the magnetic

field, creating an electric current in the wire (electromagnetic induction)

• Mechanical energy is converted into electrical energy.

Do animals have their own electricity supply?

9.6 Animal electricity