How do generators turn motion into electricity?

Michael Faraday discovered electromagnetic induction in 1831, showing that moving a conductor through a magnetic field can generate an electric current. In a generator, turbines or other rotating parts make coils of wire move relative to magnets. That changing magnetic environment creates voltage, which can then drive current through a circuit. Power stations use this principle on a huge scale, whether the turbine is spun by steam, water, wind, or gas. The same basic physics powers bicycle dynamos and emergency generators.