Spinning Magnets Into Electricity
An engine spins magnets past copper coils, and the current has nowhere to go but out.
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How a Portable Generator Makes Electricity
A portable generator uses a small engine to spin a magnetic rotor inside coils of wire. The moving magnetic field induces an alternating current in the coils. A conventional generator holds a fixed engine speed to keep the frequency right; an inverter generator converts its output to DC and back to clean AC, so the engine can slow down.
Transcript
The power's out, but your lights are still on. That's the generator outside. How? Let's cut it open. The engine spins a ring of magnets. Inside it sit coils of copper wire. Each passing magnet pushes the electrons along. North, then south, so the current swings back and forth. Faraday found this trick in 1831. It still keeps your lights on.
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