simple mercury motor
Probably the worlds simplest motor, with no SOLID moving parts-- I was doing some research (as a teen, over 30 years ago) in my parent's cellar. I took a piece of vinyl tubing (about 1/4" diameter-- as I recall, it was aquarium tubing) about 3" long, and sealed one end...
You must have been reading my mind-- I've been wondering about a similar 'thought experiment'. Actually, the previous explanation was good, as far as it goes, for conventional generators, but ANY conductor moving within a field will provide a current: ANY field moving within a conductor (say...