Kinetic energy is converted into electrical energy. How exactly?

[elis1994]

I'm in 10th grade. My science textbook basically explains all energy conversions in one 3-page paragraph; it is too simplified to understand what exactly is happening.

The textbook is explaining how does a generater work. There is only one sentence:
The turbines turn a coil of wire in a magnetic field, which converts the turbine's kinetic energy into electrical energy.
The question is, what exactly is happening? Why does a coil of wire have to move when it is in the magnetic field, and not just be there, in order to produce electricity? If kinetic energy is converted into electrical energy, where does magnetic energy come into play? Or maybe it doesn't?

I just want it to fit in my head! Remembering stuff without understanding it drives me crazy.
The problem is that I don't know enough physics to read a serious source...

Thank you if you if you can help.

 

[Delphi51]

Welcome to PF, elis! We are not used to such profound questions.
I don't think mankind has figured out the complete "why" of anything, but we have followed it along for a few steps. It was discovered by experiment that when a wire cuts through a magnetic field, a voltage appears on the wire. In more detail, electrons in the wire are pushed by the magnetic field so they will flow out one end and back in the other if an electrical load (light bulb, perhaps) is connected. There is a formula for that and the voltage can be calculated. The voltage is a measure of how much energy each electron will deliver to the load.

Energy wise, there is no mystery. The work done in pushing the coil of wire is (slightly more than) equal to the electrical work done. If no load is hooked up, it doesn't take much force to push the coil. The greater the load, the harder it must be pushed. The slight difference or loss appears as heat energy.