Transcript: What do the forces of electricity and magnetism have to do with each other? At first sight they could not appear more different. Magnetism is the force that takes the metal in a compass needle and can align it with the magnetic field of the Earth. Electricity might be familiar as a force which when you rub a balloon on your head will cause it to stick to the ceiling against the force of gravity. Yet several hundred years ago, Michael Faraday showed that electricity and magnetism were fundamentally related. Faraday showed that a changing electric field could generate a magnetic force and that a changing magnetic field could generate an electric force. Both of these properties are familiar to us in the everyday world. For instance, in an electric motor a changing electrical current creates a magnetic field that drives a rotor and moves mechanical objects, whereas in a turbine a moving body of water causes motion that changes a magnetic field and creates an electrical current.