CIVELEN EW December 17, 2013

Calvelo, Cyreen
Lorico, Abigail
Palilio, James
Penus, Nikka

Light Bulb

Light bulbs have two metal contacts at the base, which are connected to a
circuit. The two metal contacts are connected to each by the wiring inside the actual
light bulb. When a power supply is connected to one metal contact, an electric
current flow through a wire, which is connected to a filament (usually tungsten),
then through another wire, then it exits the light bulb through the other metal. A
glass mount holds all of these parts together inside the glass bulb. The glass bulb is
filled with an inert gas like Argon.

When an electric current is flowing through the filament, the high resistance
causes the electrical energy to convert to heat. This happens because the electrons
are moving from an area with negative charge to one with positive charge. This
causes the electrons to collide with the atoms of the filament. When the electrons
collide with the atoms, it causes them to vibrate, giving it more energy, which makes
it heat up.

From the equation above, we can see that resistance is inversely related to
the cross-sectional area of a wire. Filaments are usually thin because it is much
easier to get more resistance from a wire with a small cross-section and it also uses
less material. In a normal light bulb, the filament is 2 meters long while only 1/100
inch thick. It is positioned in a double coil to fit in the bulb. The long length
compared to the small area makes this a very efficient way to get a lot of resistance
from a small amount of material.

Light Emitting Diodes

Light emitting diodes, or LEDs, are like small light bulbs that dont use a
filament to produce light. Instead of heating up a filament by using resistance
against current, it uses the movement of electrons in a semiconductor. LEDs are
basically a diode, which is a kind of semiconductor device. It works by having a pure
substance, typically aluminum-gallium-arsenide, which has a perfect bond withno
free electrons. It is mixed, or doped, with impurities to make holes where electrons
can flow from an area with negative charge to an area with positive charge.

When a current is applied to a LED, the negatively charged particles in the
opposite direction as positively charged particles. When there is a change in energy
level in an atom, electrons move from a higher orbital to a lower orbital or from a
lower orbital to a higher orbital. When there is a drop from a higher orbital to a
lower orbital, the energy is released as a photon, or a light particle. The size of the
drop determines the frequency of the photon released, which means the new and
high tech LEDs can emit light of different colors.

LEDs are much more efficient than the light bulbs in the previous section.
Instead of converting electrical energy to heat to light, which wastes a lot of energy,
LEDs convert electrical energy straight to light. LEDs are starting to have more uses
in ordinary households, like the lights in digital clocks, remote controls and in TV
sets. They also make them in ordinary light bulb sizes, although they are more
expensive than ordinary light bulbs.

Switch

A switch is also used to interrupt the flow of the current like the function of a
circuit breaker. Switch can break electrical circuit, interrupting the circuit and diverting
the current into a inductor. Most of the switches are manually operated. Each switch has
close and open contacts. But other switches may be operated by a computer to control the
power flow in the circuit. Nowadays switches are operated using sensors.

There is a switch that is called as an ideal switch. An ideal switch does not have a
voltage drop once a switch is turned off. Most switches fail because they have resistance
on them.

A switch has two conductive pieces of metal, called contacts. They are connected
to the external circuit that touch to complete the circuit and separate to break the circuit.
There are different types of switches depending to the need of the household. A switch is
designed for every part of the house. And there are also two types of power switches. One
is momentarily on-off switch and the other is a regular on-off switch. The momentarily
on-off switch is usually in a form of a button like laser pointer while a regular on-off
switch has a constant on-off feature like flashlight. In any way, a switch is used to break
the circuit flowing to an appliance and to turn the appliances operating or not.

Electrical Outlets

Electrical outlets in the residential wiring system serve as passage ways for
current to run to eletrical powered devices such as appliances and electronics. 15 amp
duplex receptacles are the most common outlets. Those outlets are designed to accept
standard plugs for small appliances.

Upon installations of outlets in the wiring system these are the things to consider:




A. Circuit Requirements (15-amp vs. 20-amp Wiring)

A 15-amp circuit is protected by a 15 amp circuit breaker of fuse and
served by 14-guage wire while a 20-amp circuit is protected by a 20-amp breaker
or fuse and must also be served by 12-gauge or 10-gauge.The thicker the wires
the lesser chance it doesnt overheat on a load of 20-amp. To determine whether
the circuit is a 15-amp or 20-amp look at the corresponding breaker or fuse.15-
amp receptacles can be used with 20-amp circuits with two slots and u-shaped
grounding hole. On other hand, 20-amp have horizontal slot branching over the
vertical slots. To sum up 15-amp may be plugged into 20-amp outlets, but 20-a,p
plugs will not fit into 15-amp outlets.


B. Receptacle Types


Standard Household Electrical Receptacles

1. 15-amp duplex receptacles . Each of the two outlets has a long (neutral) slot, a
shorter (hot) slot, and a half-round grounding hole.
2. Combination Outlets designed to save space which provides a 2 in 1 outlet feature.
like an outlet with a guide light, a GFCI outlet with a switch.
3. GFCI A ground fault circuit interrupter receptacle protects from dangerous ground
faults.
4. Tamper resistant receptacles Designed to protect children from electrical injury, it
has a shutter that blocks small objects from being inserted on the outlet.
5. Rotating outlets These outlets can be used to accept more than one transformer-type
plugs like chargers, night lights, blowers, etc.
Interesting features of electrical outlet is it comes in packages of ten. It is cost
efficient in a sense when having a residential wiring system; many outlets are needed to
accommodate different electrical devices and appliances. Other interesting feature is that
there are a lot of outlet covers available in the market. Those covers are functional, yet
decorative for the household.

Circuit Breakers

A circuit breaker is an electrical switch designed to protect the whole structure from
damage caused by short circuit. Unlike fuse, circuit breaker interrupts the flow of the
current. Some house manually turns off or on their breaker others have it off and on
automatically. Circuit breakers have different sizes depending on the appliances available
in a household. It may be small device that protects small to large appliances. This
breaker may have high voltage feeding the whole town or community.

Circuit breaker originally discovered by Thomas Edison in 1879. Its purpose is to
protect the light wiring from overload and short circuit. As years pass by and more
inventions were made, circuit breakers can carry large voltage and can protect much more
households and also it increases the ability to protect the overload and short circuit
currents.
All circuit breakers have the same features although it varies depending to the
voltage that a breaker can accumulate. During the old times, homes cannot handle to
barrage electrical current needed to operate all the appliances in the house. So
professionals invented a breaker that will carry a high voltage and will protect the house
from fire. Its no wonder that old homes have become a threat to a danger or electrical
fire. Therefore it is a must that every household equipped their homes with circuit
breakers.




Junction box

A junction box is defined as an enclosure within which electric circuits are
connected and an enclosure within which electric circuits, such as the electrical wiring for
different sections of a building, are connected to other circuits, such as outside power
sources. Junction boxes are very common in telecommunications circuitry and are used to
protect the connections and provide easy access to them. In laymans terms an electrical
junction box is a box that contains electrical connections to hide them so that no one else
can tamper with the electrical wires. The junction box could be either metal or plastic and
is part of the wiring system of the whole building or residence. Junction boxes are part of
the whole circuit system and thus must be protected. This is why must junction boxes are
in fireproof surrounding making it not short circuit or catching on fire.Mistakes are often
made like not having a junction box and therefore accidents may happen. Heat and sparks
may be caused from a loose connection and short circuits. Sometimes wires are too short.
Wires that are cut too short will make difficult connections. Length allowance is allotted
in the junction box.

AC power plugs and sockets are residential devices that allow electricity
dependent equipment to be connected to a current power supply in a building. Most
electrical power plugs and sockets differ in voltage and current ratings. The types are
different in every country and are set by national standards. For example in the
Philippines we have two hundred twenty volts and one hundred ten volts and the shape is
holes that are fit for two flat prong electrical plugs. Which is why there are adaptors for
different and various kinds of sockets. A plug is a movable connector to be attached to a
electrical dependent device. The socket is fixed on a wall of the building. Like what is
said above the plugs are protruding prongs also known as the male and as for the female
that term belongs to the sockets, which are fit and matching for the slots and holes.
Sockets are designed so that the exposure of the electricity is prevented. Plugs are meant
to reduce electric shocks done by touching the plugs while still connected because the
plug acts as a conductor and therefore having that electric shock. This is why we have
plugs and sockets to ensure safety in the household.




Reference:

T. Harris. (19 February 2002). How Light Bulbs Work [Online]. Available:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/light-bulb2.htm

T. Harris, W. Fenton. (31 January 2002). How Light Emitting Diodes Work [Online].
Available: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/led.htm

Circuit Solutions, Inc. (2010) Circuit Breaker Replacement [Online]. Available:
http://www.apluselectricianspringfield.com/circuit-breaker-replacement-branson-
springfield-mo.html

Balaban, Dave (2013) Wiring a Single Pole Switch [Online] Available:
http://www.finehomebuilding.com/how-to/departments/building-skills/wiring-a-single-
pole-switch.aspx

Home Service Publications , Inc. (2013) Wiring Switches [Online] Available:
http://www.familyhandyman.com/electrical/wiring-switches

(11 September 2013) Electrical Outlets.
http://www.homedepot.com/c/electrical_outlets_factors_to_consider_when_selecti
ng_electrical_outlets_HT_BG_EL