Can spinning magnets inside a coil of wire light a bulb? Moving magnets create a push on the electric charges inside metal. That push is called voltage. You wind thin wire around a small cardboard box. Then you mount four ceramic magnets on a nail inside the box. When you spin the nail fast, the changing magnetic field forces charges through the wire and into a tiny bulb. A hand-crank drill spins the magnets fast enough to light the bulb brightly. The filament glows because charges speed up inside its narrow wire and produce heat.