Chapter

5: Practical Electricity

Source: http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-106845/

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/to-avoid-outages-you-cant-just-bury-power-
lines/4294

What you need to know:
Practical uses of electricity. For example, how is heating
effect used in electrical appliances?
Explain the functions of devices like the fuse and circuit
breakers
What are the characteristics of the Live, Neutral and Earth
wires and how to connect them in a mains plug
Wiring in a household circuit
Safety features of the household circuit and electrical devices
Use E = Pt and P = IV to solve problems
Calculate the cost of electrical energy
Electrical hazards and precautions that should be taken


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5.1 Heating Effect

Can you think of some electrical appliances that make use of
the heating effect of an electric current?

Examples include
.

All these appliances have a inside them.
The heating element is usually made of . wire
coiled around and insulating fireproofing material.

Nichrome is used in most heating elements because
a) it does not oxidise or rust easily (even at high
temperatures)
b) it has high . hence, it heats up
quickly when a current passes through it.

The rate at which the electrical energy is converted to
thermal energy depends on the size of the current and
the resistance of the heating element.

5.2 Live, Neutral & Earth Wires

For a complete electric circuit there must be a minimum

of .. wires. These are called the .
wires.
Many appliances will also have another wire called
the wire. This wire Is a safety feature. It is
connected to the outer metal casing of an appliance.



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5.3 The 3-Pin Plug

Exercise 1

Label the different parts of the 3-Pin plug shown here:

Why do you think some electric appliances only have a
2-pin plug?








Why do you think these colours are chosen for the 3
wires?


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Complete the following table for the 3 wires used in

Singapore household wiring.

Live Wire

Neutral Wire

Earth Wire

Colour

Potential

Current?

5.4 Switches

A switch provides safety for the users of the circuit as well

as convenience.

Fig. 5.4.1. Switch in correct position.

Fig. 5.4.2. Switch in wrong position.

A switch should always be placed in the
wire.
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Exercise 1
Draw the circuit symbol for a switch.

In Fig. 4.4.2 where the switch is positioned after the
heater, is the heater on?



5.5 Fuses



Fuses
are generally of the form of a replaceable cartridge

made of glass or ceramic.

Exercise 1
What is the purpose of a fuse?
..
..

Exercise 2
How does a fuse work?
..
..
..
..

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Exercise 3
Draw the circuit symbol for a fuse.

How are different fuses identified?




5.6 Earthing

Fig. 5.6.1. An electrical fault with no Earth wire protection.

Fig. 5.6.2. An electrical fault with Earth wire protection.

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An Earth wire with should have a

resistance.

The Earth wire should be connected between the

metal of the appliance and
the ground.

The ground is assumed to always be at

potential.

Protects user from electric shocks if metal casing of

appliances becomes .

Large surge of current through earth wire will cause

fuse to .

The fuse is said to blow not to blow up!

Why do you think some electric appliances do not
require an Earth wire?

5.7 Household Electrical Supply

Electricity entering your house will pass through the main

fusebox, an electricity meter and a consumer unit before
separating into the various circuits around your house.

The voltage of the electricity supply in Singapore is V.
The current changes direction repeatedly and so is referred
to as (AC). It changes at a
frequency of Hertz (Hz), or . times per second.

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5.7.1 Electricity Meter

The electricity meter is usually positioned outside of the

house to allow easy access for the electricity company to
take a reading.

Fig. 5.7.1. An electricity meter

Electricity is measured in units of in our homes.
They are sometimes referred to as units of electricity.

Exercise 1
What is reading on the above electricity meter?
..

Do you know how much electricity is used in your
home? Do you know how much a unit of electricity
costs in Singapore?

5.7.2 Consumer Unit

Sometimes this is referred to as the fuse box.

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Fig. 5.7.2. A consumer unit

The consumer unit contains the
allowing the user to switch off all of the electricity in the
house.
It also houses a series of smaller switches called Miniature
Circuit Breakers . Theses switch off separate
circuits in the house. This is a safety feature and the MCBs
will switch off when a fault is detected.

When a MCB switches off by itself we will sometimes
say that it has tripped.

MCBs trip when a occurs or
the current becomes too .

Earth Leakage Circuit Breakers (ELCB) are another type of
switch found in the consumer unit. ELCBs trip when leakage
occurs from the live wire to the .. wire.

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5.7.3 Wiring Circuits

Some examples of electric circuits within the house are:

Why do you think we need separate circuits in the

house?

Why not just wire everything together?




5.7.3.1 Lighting Circuit

Why do you think only the L and N wires are used?


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Every lamp is connected in to the mains.

Voltage (p.d.) across each lamp is V.

If one lamp has a fault, the others will

5.7.3.2 Ring Main Circuit

The main electricity supply in your house is called the Ring

Main. It connects all of the power sockets in your house.

Current flows into any socket from two directions

around the ring.



5.8 Dangers of Electricity

Electrical faults can cause fires, electric shocks or
electrocution to users.
Possible causes could be damaged insulation, overloading
cables or damp conditions.
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5.8.1 Damaged insulation

Frequently caused by wear & tear.

If an exposed wire comes into contact with a metal casing
the metal casing will become ..

5.8.2 Overloading wires

How many appliances do you plug into the same

socket? Is it safe?

Overloading the wires with too much current will cause the
wires to . They may melt or catch fire.

5.8.3 Damp conditions

Water is a conductor. Water the resistance

of human skin. A current flowing through the body may
cause electrocution.

5.9 Electric Power

Formulae
Power is given by:

P = I V

Where
P is the power measured in joules (J)
I is the current measured in amperes (A)
V is the potential difference measured in volts (V)
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5.10

Cost of Electricity
Cost is based on amount of electrical energy used in the
domestic units of kilowatt-hour (kWh).

Formulae
Electrical energy is given by:

E = P t

Where
E is the electrical energy measured in units of kilowatt-hours
(kWh)
P is the power measured in kilowatts (kW)
t is the time measured in hours

This is one equation that is NOT using SI units!

Example
How many Joules is equal to 1 kWh?
1 kWh = 1000 W x 1 hr

= 1000 J/s x 3600 s

= 3 600 000 J

Why do you think you get an electricity bill in units of
kWh instead of joules??

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Exercise 1
How long will a 50 W electric radio run on 2 kWh of
electrical energy?

Exercise 2
Calculate the cost of using a 40 W, 240 V filament lamp for 5
hours per day for 2 weeks, if each unit of electricity costs 30
cents.

Exercise 3
An electric light bulb is labelled '240 V, 60 W'.
a) What is meant by '240 V, 60 W'?





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b) What is the current flowing through the bulb when it is

operating normally?








c) Compared to another bulb that is labelled '240 V, 20 W',
which of the bulbs has a higher resistance? Explain.

5.11

Summary

1. A fuse is a short length of wire that will ......................
when the current through it ............................... its
current rating. The ............................... of a fuse is the
maximum current it can carry. The fuse should be
connected to the ............................... wire.

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2. The earth wire is a connected to the

conducting ............................... of an electrical appliance.
When the appliance is faulty, electrical energy will pass
harmlessly along the wire to the earth, rather than
through the body of the user; protecting the user from
an ................................
3. The ............................... circuit breaker
(...............................) trips and ............................... the
current flow in the circuit when there is a short circuit or
when the current flowing through the circuit exceeds
the rating of it.
4. The ............................... circuit breaker
(...............................) switches off the electricity supply
when a current leakage of 30 mA is detected in the
circuit.
5. Double-insulated appliances have two sets of insulations.
No ............................... wire is needed in a double
insulated appliance.

Attempt assignment AS 2.1

Deadline for submission: ..

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