Answer: They make chemical reactions to convert things electricity. They do this by capturing the power of motion and turning it into electrical energy by forcing electrons from the external source through an electrical circuit. An electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy obtained from an external source into electrical energy as the output. It is important to understand that a generator does not actually ‘create’ electrical energy. Instead, it uses the mechanical energy supplied to it to force the movement of electric charges present in the wire of its windings through an external electric circuit. This flow of electric charges constitutes the output electric current supplied by the generator. This mechanism can be understood by considering the generator to be analogous to a water pump, which causes the flow of water but does not actually ‘create’ the water flowing through it.