Tag: electric current and its effects

Electrical working is based on Joule's law, i.e. heating effect of electric current in a conductor.

Electric Fan works on the principle of motor.

Nichrome is used for making heating element of electrical appliances. Because nichrome does not oxidize and burn easily at high temperature i.e.it has higher melting and boiling point than metals. Thus it does not melt even when a large amount of heat is produced due to passage of current. Moreover, It has higher resisistivity and consequently a higher resistance.Therefore, it will resist the flow of charges more, and lead to development of heat faster.

Tungsten is used in electric bulb because it has high melting point and it does not oxidize. Thus tungsten filament does not melt even when a large amount of heat is produced due to passage of current through the filament (via heating effect of current).

A device which works on Joule's law of heating ;

Heat lost per second per unit surface area of fuse wire is
$H = \dfrac{I^2 \rho }{2 \pi ^2 r^3}$

Answer: B
a fuse wire is a type of high resistance resistor that acts as a sacrificial device to provide over current protection, of either the load or source circuit. resistivity is directly depend on resistance for a particular conductor , hence high resistance means high resistivity which is called specific resistance.

Fuses are safety devices that are to be built into our electrical system. If there were no fuses and we operated too many appliances on a single circuit, the cable carrying the power for that circuit would get extremely hot, short circuit, and possibly start a fire. To prevent electrical overloads, fuses are designed to trip or blow, stopping the flow of current to the overloaded cable.
Fuse is a piece of wire of a material with a very low melting point. When a high current flows through the circuit due to overloading or short circuit, the wires gets heated and melts. As a result, the circuit is broken and current stops flowing. 
The fuse must always be connected to the mains and it must be of correct current rating. For example, a 15-ampere fuse should trip when the current through it exceeds 15 amperes. A 20-ampere fuse should blow when the current through it exceeds 20 amps.
Hence, the statement 'the current rating of a fuse is 5 A' means that the fuse should trip when the current through it exceeds 5 amperes. So correct option is B.

In our homes, we receive supply of electric power through a main supply (mains), either supported through overhead electric poles or by underground cables.The live wire and neutral wire, coming from the electric pole, enter a box fitted just outside our house which has a main fuse. The fuse is connected in series with the live wire. This is done so because it is only the live wire which has a high potential of 220 volts unlike the neutral wire which carries zero potential. The fuse has a high rating of about 50 amperes. Thus it prevents any damage such as fire to the entire electrical wiring entering the house due to short-circuit or overloading.
The two wires then enter the electricity meter which records the electrical power consumed by us in kilowatt-hour (kWh).
Hence, A fuse is connected in series with the live wire.

A fuse consists of a metal strip or wire fuse element, of small cross-section compared to the circuit conductors, mounted between a pair of electrical terminals, and (usually) enclosed by a non-combustible housing. The fuse is arranged in series to carry all the current passing through the protected circuit. The resistance of the element generates heat due to the current flow. The size and construction of the element is (empirically) determined so that the heat produced for a normal current does not cause the element to attain a high temperature. If too high a current flows, the element rises to a higher temperature and either directly melts, or else melts a soldered joint within the fuse, opening the circuit.
The fuse element is made of zinc, copper, silver, aluminum, or alloys of tin and lead to provide stable and predictable characteristics. The fuse ideally would carry its rated current indefinitely, and melt quickly on a small excess. The element must not be damaged by minor harmless surges of current, and must not oxidize or change its behavior after possibly years of service.