How do windmills work?
For grown-ups: the science
Wind pushes the blades, and their turning can do jobs like pumping water or helping make electricity.
Wind transfers some of its kinetic energy to angled blades, creating rotation. A shaft carries that rotation to machinery, such as millstones or pumps; modern wind turbines use a generator to convert rotational mechanical energy into electrical energy.
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Transcript
Look at those big blades turning in the breeze. How can moving air make a windmill work?
Wind is air moving across the land. When it pushes the wide blades, the blades begin to turn.
The blades are joined to a long part inside called a shaft. As the blades turn, the shaft turns too.
A windmill can use that turning to grind grain or pump water. Some wind turbines use it to help make electricity.
So windmills catch moving air and turn its push into useful work.