Safety boundary
Use simulations or supervised low-voltage coil/magnet activities only. Do not use mains electricity, high-current coils, or improvised high-voltage equipment.
Explicit physics instruction
A generator converts mechanical energy into electrical energy through changing magnetic flux.
A motor converts electrical energy into mechanical rotation through magnetic forces on current-carrying conductors.
Neither device creates energy; efficiency is limited by heating, friction, magnetic losses, and other mechanisms.
Vocabulary: generator; motor; energy conversion; efficiency; back emf.
Worked example
A hand-cranked generator can light an LED because mechanical work changes magnetic flux and produces electrical energy transfer.
Guided question
Why does harder electrical loading make a generator harder to turn?
Independent work
- Trace energy through a generator and motor.
- Identify input/output/loss pathways.
- Compare ideal and real efficiency.
Misconception check
A generator does not create electrical energy from nothing; mechanical work supplies it.
Formative check
What is the energy input to a hand-cranked generator?
Reveal response
Mechanical work.
Mentor evidence conference
Ask Archaemenes to audit direction rules, rate reasoning, energy source, and model scope.
Teacher guidance
Foundation: Use energy-flow diagrams.
Core: Integrate induction and magnetic force.
Extended: Analyze efficiency and back-emf behavior.