Hydroelectric Power: How a Dam Makes Electricity

0:00How does a dam make electricity from water? Let us find out.

0:05First, a dam is built across a river.

0:09Water builds up behind the dam and makes a deep lake called a reservoir.

0:14The water is now high up, so it has stored energy, ready to fall.

0:20A big pipe lets the water rush down through the dam.

0:24The rushing water pushes on the blades of a turbine and spins it.

0:29The turbine turns a generator. Inside, a coil spinning near magnets makes electricity.

0:36Power lines carry the electricity to homes and schools.

0:42The water is not used up. It flows on down the river.

0:47Rain and rivers keep refilling the reservoir, so hydroelectric power is renewable.

0:54No fuel is burned, so making the power gives off no smoke and no carbon dioxide.

1:00But the reservoir floods valleys, and the dam blocks fish that swim up the river.

1:06Falling water spins a turbine and a generator, and that makes electricity.