DANGER OF ELECTRICITY Electricity can be DANGEROUS due to 3 MAIN REASONS a) DAMAGED INSULATION Insulating materials for wire can

be worn because of the USAGES FREQUENCY, HOW LONG AND THE WAY IT IS USED E.g: PVC cable for iron and hair dryer USUALLY GET TWISTED AND BENT due to the way they are used. It might cause the materials to CRACK and BREAK, thus EXPOSING the conducting the wire inside.

The exposed LIVE wire (blue color) can CAUSE SEVERE ELECTRICAL SHOCK (lead to serious injury or even death) to user if it is TOUCHED

b) OVERHEATING OF CABLES

Occurs when an unusual large current flows through the conducting wires

Most of the cases involve the overheating and melting of both LIVE and NEUTRAL wire, but HOW?

Usually 3 pin-plug wires (LIVE, NEUTRAL and EARTH) are thin wire. The THINNER THE WIRE, the HIGHER THE RESISTANCE. The HIGHER THE RESISTANCE, the GREATER THE ELECTRICAL ENERGY PRODUCED.

Electrical energy CAN BE CHANGED ITS FORM INTO HEAT ENERGY if that 3 pin plug is connected to a wall-socket power supply for a long period of time. Somehow, the insulations part will be damaged and may cause fire.

c) DAMP CONDITIONS MAIN CAUSE for many electrical accidents Water is QUITE POOR ELECTRICAL CONDUCTOR, however, it STILL can conduct electricity if there is a large current flow through it

E.g: 1. Leave hair dryer on a wet sink (a person can be electrocuted when he or she using that sink) 2. Turn a swith ON with wet hand

SAFE USE OF ELETRICITY AT HOME There a lot of SAFEY FEATURES installed in our home such as CIRCUIT BREAKER, FUSE, 3 PIN- PLUG, EARTH WIRE AND DOUBLE INSULATION OF CERTAIN APPLIANCES a) CIRCUIT BREAKER Safety devices that can switch off the electrical supply in a circuit when there is an overflow of current. Without it, sudden increasing of current can cause damage to home appliances or even start a fire

ELCB

MCB

2 circuit breakers that can be NORMALLY be found near the front door of a house. These are: - Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) and Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker (ELCB) i) MINIATURE CIRCUIT BREAKER (MCB) Prevent excessive current flow through the circuit by tripping or breaking it. Labelled with various current limitation (based on the appliances requirement)

Can be reset by switching it on again. (Should be done ONLY after the fault in the circuit has been corrected) If the MCB trips again, contact the expert for maintenances purpose ii) EARTH LEAKAGE CIRCUIT BREAKER (ELCB) Monitor the amount of current flowing from the LIVE wire to the NEUTRAL wire (it should be the SAME) If there is an electrical fault (i.e: poor insulation), there will be a current leakage (about 10 -30 mA) to the Earth (ground) via Earth wire and it will be detected by ELCB. That means, that leakage will lead to the sudden increasing of current in the LIVE wire, and NOT in NEUTRAL wire. So, ELCB will trip Without ELCB, a person who touches the metal case of circuit breaker will be electrocuted. b) FUSE Safety device included in 3 pin plugs to prevent excessive current flow. Characteristics of fuse: - made by short thin wire (has HIGH RESISTANCE) - has current rating marked on it (usually 1, 2, 5, 10 and 13 A) - becomes HOT and MELT when the current flowing through it is GREATER than rated current. PRECAUTIONS during selecting and installling fuse: - Current rating MUST be SLIGHTLY HIGHER than current flowing through appliance in normal condition - MUST be connected to the LIVE wire - Main power supply MUST be SWITCHED OFF when we are going to replace fuse Let try to solve the numerical problem related to fuse: Example 1: A hot water heater is rated 2880 W, 240 V. It has been used 2 times per day for 5 minutes per day.Calculate: i- resistance of heater ii- electrical energy produced per day iii- operating current Suggest a suitable rating for a fuse to prevent the heater from overheating

Example 2: The following appliances are operating in a kitchen: 50 W fruit blender 800 W microwave oven 400 W refigerator 1.5 kW electric kettle

The electricity supply is 240 V and the kitchen is protected by MCB with a rating fuse of 13 A. Calculate: i- resistance of all appliances ii- operating current for all appliances ii- total operating current Does the MCB trip? If yes/no, why?

Exercise: 1. An electric kettle is connected across a 240 V power supply. If the resistance of the heating element is 40 , calculate: i- power of kettle ii- operating current of kettle Suggest a suitable rating for a fuse to prevent the heater from overheating 2. The diagram shows two resistors of 1 and 2 connected in series to a 240 V a.c power supply

Calculate: i- power dissipated by the resistors ii- operating current for the circuit Suggest a suitable rating for a fuse Appliance Air conditioner Rating 240V, 2kW Time of use in hour 100

Water heater

240 V, 4 kW

20

Refrigerator

240 V, 1 kW

200

3.

The table shows three electrical appliances are used in one month. (a) What is meant by the label 240 V, 4 kW ?

(b) (i) What is the suitable fuse is used in the refrigerator?

(ii) Give the reason for your answer in b(i)