Well... [Hmn, how to explain this... It's not as if he's much of an expert, after all.] I know that when the magnet in the machine turns, it changes the magnetic field, which...creates electricity. If it doesn't turn, the field doesn't change so the light doesn't go on. Er...
[Damn it, he was going to snag a book on that Faraday guy when he was better.]
I guess an easier way to sort of think about it is, uh-- [And now he has to relate it to Astrid so she'll get it, argh.] Say you've got an axe. If you don't build up power--energy--with a swing, all that will happen when you let go is that it will fall. But if you build up the energy, then it generates a reaction. The axe goes flying, or in the case of the machine, the light goes on. Only, with throwing the axe the energy comes from the movement in your body. With the lightbulb, it's from the spinning of the magnet.
no subject
[Damn it, he was going to snag a book on that Faraday guy when he was better.]
I guess an easier way to sort of think about it is, uh-- [And now he has to relate it to Astrid so she'll get it, argh.] Say you've got an axe. If you don't build up power--energy--with a swing, all that will happen when you let go is that it will fall. But if you build up the energy, then it generates a reaction. The axe goes flying, or in the case of the machine, the light goes on. Only, with throwing the axe the energy comes from the movement in your body. With the lightbulb, it's from the spinning of the magnet.
Does...that make a little sense?