How is electricity made?
For grown-ups: the science
Electricity is often made by a machine that spins big blades. Water, wind, or steam power spins the blades, and that spinning turns into electricity.
Most power plants use a turbine and a generator. Hydro, wind, thermal, and nuclear plants differ in what energy source spins the turbine. Inside the generator, electricity is produced by electromagnetic induction, from the relative motion between a magnet and a coil. Solar power doesn't spin any blades—solar cells convert light directly into electricity instead.
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Transcript
When you press the light switch, it turns on right away. But where does the electricity come from?
At the place where electricity is made, there's a machine with big blades. Spinning the blades round and round makes electricity.
The blades are spun by flowing water, wind, or steam made from heat. The moving power of water and air gets turned into electricity.
The electricity that's made travels through long wires to the town. When it reaches homes and schools, it turns on lights and runs machines.
So many kinds of power spin the blades to make electricity.