electric machine

An electric machine separated into its moving portion (rotor) and its stationary portion (stator and base). Pictured, and AC induction motor.

In electrical engineering, an electric machine is a general term for a machine that makes use of electromagnetic forces and their interactions with voltages, currents, and movement, such as motors and generators. They are electromechanical energy converters, converting between electricity and motion. The moving parts in a machine can be rotating (rotating machines) or linear (linear machines). While transformers are occasionally called "static electric machines", they do not have moving parts and are more accurately described as electrical devices "closely related" to electrical machines.