dynamos

In simplest terms, a dynamo is essentially an electric motor run in reverse.

The electric motor uses magnets spinning in a metal coil to spin an axle.
Conversely, spinning the axle causes the magnets to rotate in the coil and
generates an electric current moving away from the motor. A cool
experiment to try is to buy a small motor from radio shack and put it to your
tongue. Spin it and you will feel a slight tingle coming from the connectors.
This is known as the Faraday effect. Look up this effect to gain a fuller
understanding of motors and dynamos.

A dynamo, originally another name for an electrical generator, now means a

generator that produces direct current with the use of a commutator.
Dynamos were the first electrical generators capable of delivering power
for industry, and the foundation upon which many other later electric-power
conversion devices were based, including the electric motor, the alternating-
current alternator, and the rotary converter. They are rarely used for
power generation now because of the dominance of alternating current, the
disadvantages of the commutator, and the ease of converting alternating to
direct current using solid state methods.

The word still has some regional usage as a replacement for the word
generator. In the UK, a small electrical generator built into the hub of a
bicycle wheel to power lights is called a Hub dynamo.

Description
The dynamo uses rotating coils of wire and magnetic fields to convert
mechanical rotation into a pulsing direct electric current through Faraday's
law. A dynamo machine consists of a stationary structure, called the stator,
which provides a constant magnetic field, and a set of rotating windings
called the armature which turn within that field. On small machines the
constant magnetic field may be provided by one or more permanent magnets;
larger machines have the constant magnetic field provided by one or more
electromagnets, which are usually called field coils.

The commutator was needed to produce direct current. When a loop of wire
rotates in a magnetic field, the potential induced in it reverses with each
half turn, generating an alternating current. However, in the early days of
electric experimentation, alternating current generally had no known use.
The few uses for electricity, such as electroplating, used direct current
provided by messy liquid batteries. Dynamos were invented as a replacement
for batteries. The commutator is a set of contacts mounted on the
machine's shaft, which reverses the connection of the windings to the
external circuit when the potential reverses, so instead of alternating
current, a pulsing direct current is produced.