Is a turbine the same thing as a motor? Is a turbine the same thing as a motor? We know that water, wind and nuclear power plants rotate a turbine so is this turbine like a motor? I think we can generate electricity by rotating a motor too. If motors and a turbines are different then what are their differences? 
 A: A turbine is machine in which the kinetic energy of a moving fluid is converted to mechanical power by the impulse or reaction of the fluid with a series of buckets, paddles, or blades arrayed about the circumference of a wheel or cylinder. The mechanical power typically has the form of a torque on a rotating axis.
A motor is generic term for a machine converting various types of energy (chemical, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic...) in mechanical power (again typically torque on a rotating axis).
The fundamental difference between for example a hydraulic motor and a hydraulic turbine is that the turbine is designed for maximum efficiency and typically used in the generation of electrical energy whereas the hydraulic motor is merely an actuator for which energy efficiency is less important than for example response time.
A: I see where you're trying to get to. So let me just jump right in with the textbook nomenclature. You are interested in the distinction between a device doing work versus having work done on it. What you might not have realized is that a turbine and a motor are in two completely different families. Let me lay out the distinctions here:


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*A pump does work, while a turbine has work done on it by a fluid

*A motor does work, while a generator has work done on it, powered by current
You could picture an SAT question about this. "A pump is to a turbine as a motor is to a generator."
One commonality here is torque as the intermediate form of work. In a power plant, energy in a fluid goes into a turbine, which goes into torque, which goes into a generator, which becomes current. You can turn that entire process around for pumped storage.
Another important note - AC generators are almost always easily reversible. Hydraulic turbines are also often reversible. Steam turbines are not remotely reversible. The symmetry of the universe doesn't quite withstand engineering in the real world. 
A: For the case of the nuclear generating plant, the difference between a motor and a turbine is a bit more subtle.  In the nuclear generating plant, high pressure steam is generated by the heat of the nuclear reaction, and this high pressure steam is sent to a turbine.  The turbine is connected via a shaft to a generator (which in some cases, can be a motor that is run "backwards"), and such an arrangement is called a turbo-generator.  So, to generate electricity, there are several energy conversion steps involved:
1) High pressure steam is "dropped" through the turbine blades, and rotational shaft power is developed as a result of the pressure drop associated with the steam flow through the turbine
2) The shaft work from the turbine turns the generator on the other end of the shaft, causing coils of wire to rotate through a magnetic field, which generates electric power via magnetic induction
3) The electrical power from this process goes to various electrical loads, where it is an input to another device that converts this electrical power into another form of energy
Each device must have some form of energy input (e.g., steam, electricity, etc.) that is converted into another form of energy, always at an efficiency lower than 100%.  From this perspective, motors, turbines, and generators are similar.
Of course, for real-world applications, you need to determine what your energy inputs consist of.  If you have high pressure steam available, you would generate shaft work with a turbine, because that device is designed to perform that particular energy conversion.  If you have electricity available, you would use an electric motor to turn electrical energy into shaft work, again, because that device is designed for that particular energy conversion.
A: Both turbines and motors can be used to turn an electric generator which produces electric power. I will exclude electric motors for this short overview. 
Both turbine and motor work on an operating fluid, the so-called working fluid.


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*A turbine is continuously operating on the fluid, while a motor operates intermittently in strokes. Most modern cars use 4-stroke engines, while some motorcylces still have 2-stroke engines. 

*In a turbine, the fluid is expanded and imparts its momentum on the turbine blades, which turn a shaft. In a motor, the fluid is expanded against a piston which is connected to a crankshaft. The crankshaft transforms the piston's longitudinal motion in rotational motion. 

*A turbine is both a fluid dynamic machine and a heat engine, while a motor is only a heat engine. 

