The motor is immediately what I thought of and makes the most sense. Took physics about 6 years ago so I'm a bit rusty!
You?
I took these basic electricity course back in the mid 70's and then again in the early 80's. So almost 30 years since I learned the basics. I actually had at least 3 different courses over a 10 year time period. (One in the Navy, one for an upgrade at work and then a few college level courses.)
Being a mechanic it wasn't all esoteric and delving into the minutia. But the teachers taught it and compared it to things we did understand. (I use to be a mechanic for much of my life.)
Like;
Voltage is similar to pressure.
Amperage is similar to flow.
Resistance is similar to reduction in pipe size.
That a generator is not much more then a motor coupled to an engine. Much like a generator or alternator on a vehicle.
As a mechanic in the Navy we ran steam driven (just a different form of engine) generators to power the ship.
etc.
The reason I prefer the transformer analogy is because of the fluctuating magnetic field on the primary side by the use of the iron core going through both sides (stationary wire) is then also induce onto the windings of the secondary side. I could have used traffic light signal trip switches where the metal of a vehicle changes the inductance in the coil buried in the ground.
But to many folks it's just magic that the signal 'knows' you're there and the traffic lights needs to change.
