Learn it
How does energy get changed into electricity?
Have you ever noticed steam rising from a pot cooking on your stove? Power plants create steam too, by using energy from oil, coal, the sun and other sources to heat water or special liquids. The steam is used to move blades on a machine called a turbine that is attached to another machine called a generator. The steam causes the turbine to spin, and the spinning makes copper wires in the generator act like a magnet. The magnetic field inside the generator is what turns the energy into electricity.
How does it get to my house?
Once electricity has been created at the power plant, it is transferred by special power lines to a sub-station where it is changed into different levels of power, called volts. The electricity then leaves the sub-station and travels along the power lines you see between tall power poles.
Once the electricity reaches your neighborhood, it goes through a box called a transformer. The volts are changed again so the electricity will be at the right level to do the work it needs to do when it reaches your house.
