The Benefits and Danger of Electrical Energy

Electricity provides us many valuable things that without it would prove difficult. But despite its many benefits, electricity could bring danger as well from the most common house fires to electrocution, which is fatal. How should one prevent these from happening? Find out in this chapter .

8.1 Matching Source and Load

Why is a 110 V television set damaged when plug into a 220 V source? Why cant a 1.5 V dry cell light up a 4.5 V bulb? All electrical appliances are designed to work efficiently at a certain voltage. This is its voltage rating. It is usually written at the back of an appliance. Knowing what these labels mean helps a person use the electrical appliances properly, thus reducing the risks of accidents. Figure 8.1 is an example of this label. The label indicates that the oven toaster should be connected to a 220 V source. If connected to a lower voltage source, it will not work efficiently. The electric current through it will not be enough. If connected to a higher source, a large amount of current will go through the appliance, and may damage it. The appliance uses a AC current. When you use an electric appliance, see to it that the voltage rating of the appliance matches that of the source. 1. On the base of the bulb is written: 3 V, 0.15 A. What does this mean? What will happen if this bulb is connected to a 1.5 V cell? What will happen if it is connected to a 4.5 V battery?

Some appliances, like flash lights, portable radios, and calculators, are designed to operate on direct current (DC). Batteries supply direct current to such appliances. Unless an AC-DC converter is used, these appliances should not be connected to a wall outlet.

8.2 Power Rating of Appliances

What does the power rating of an electrical appliance mean? How is it related to the amount of energy used by the appliance? Electrical energy makes an electrical appliance work. Electrical appliances convert electrical energy into other forms like like light, sound, thermal energy, mechanical energy and others. The rate at which an electrical appliance converts electrical energy into other forms is called power. That is,

P = E/t
whereP is the power in watts, E is energy in joules, and t is the time in seconds that energy is converted. For example, if an electric fan has a power rating of 40 watts, its means that 40 joules of electrical energy are converted to mechanical energy per second once it is connected to the right voltage source and switched on. The power rating of an appliance is usually written on the appliances manufacturers label (see Figure 8.1). some appliances do not show the power rating on the label but indicate instead its voltage rating in volts and current rating in amperes. This information also gives the power rating of the appliance. This is because electrical power P can also be expressed in terms of voltage V and current I. That is, Power = current x voltage or P = IV The unit of electrical power is watt (W) in honor of James Watt, inventor of the stream engine. Electrical power is usually expressed in watts (W) or kilowatts (kW). 1 kilowatt = 1,000 watts Some appliances have power rating as low as 8 W like that of the fluorescent lamp and as high as 1,000 W like that of the flat iron. In Figure 8.1, the power rating of the oven toaster 800 W. 2. For the same voltage, what happens to current when power is doubled? What happens to power when current is halved?

3. The current through an electric flat iron connected to a 220 V line is 4 A. What is the power input of the flat iron? 4. A lamp is rated 40 W and 220 V. how much current will the lamp draw from the main line? From equation 8.1, the power rating of an appliance tells us the amount of electrical energy the device will need over a given period. That is,

E = Pt. The electric company bills you this, the amount of electrical energy the household consumed during the billing period. Thus, the greater the power rating of an appliance, the greater the electrical energy consumption would be. 5. What appliances in the home contribute most to your energy consumpsion?

8.3 Heat Generated Appliances

Why do some appliances produce more heat than others? What is the most essential part of a heating appliance like the electric stove? What material is commonly used as a heating element? In what way is the power rating of an appliance related to the heat generated?

Note that most appliances with high power rating are heating appliances. Heating appliances contain heating element like resistors. Resistors convert electrical energy to light and thermal energy. The amount of heat produced from electricity depends on the resistance of the material. Heating devices often use nichrome wire as the heating element. Nichrome wire is an alloy of nickel and chromium. It has two features that make it a good producer of heat. First, it has greater resistivity than other materials like copper. This gives the alloy enough resistance to get hot from all the current in it without breaking. Second, it does not oxidize when heated; hence, does not rust even at high temperature.

When electrons flow through a wire, they collide with the atoms in the wire. Atoms are always turning and vibrating in an irregular way, producing thermal energy. When electrons collide with atoms, they make the latter turn and vibrate even faster. Hence, more thermal energy is produced. The amount of thermal energy produced depends on the current in the wire and its resistance. For the same resistance, the greater the current, the more thermal energy is produced. Likewise the hotter the wire becomes. Electric rice cookers, stoves, toasters, dryers, flatirons, and percolators are examples of appliances which use electricity to produce thermal energy. For this type of devices, the equation P = VI can be written in another way. Since V = IR,

P = (IR)I = I2R And since P = W/t I2R = W/t or W = I2Rt Work W represents the electrical energy that is transformed to thermal energy and transferred as heat. Hence, the heat H transferred by the electrical device is given by the equation: H = I2Rt 6. If current in an electric stove is doubled, how will the thermal energy produced per unit time change? 7. Calculate the heat produce by a 50 flatiron with a current of 4 A in 30 s.

Thermal energy produced by an electric current can pose danger. If an electric wire in a wall becomes too hot, it may start a fire. To prevent such fires, hidden wires in a house are heavily insulated so they do not touch anything which may burn.

Thermal energy produced by an electric current can cause light emission due to very high temperatures. This happens in incandescent lamps. An incandescent lamp has a filament that transforms electrical energy to light and thermal energy. It is a less efficient light source compared to a fluorescent lamp. A fluorescent lamp of the same power rating as an incandescent bulb gives off cooler and brighter light because its light is emitted by the atoms of the fluorescent coating. In the market today, there are even more efficient and cheaper fluorescent lamps called the compact fluorescent lamp or CFL. 8. What factors affect the amount of heat produced? How do these factors affect the heat produced?

8.4 Short Circuit and Overload

Electrical energy is supplied into homes by pairs of insulated copper wires placed on walls and ceilings. Not much heat is produced in the wires because copper has low resistivity. However, if the current is very large, the wires may become hot enough to melt or burn the insulation and start a fire. This large current may be caused either by a short circuit or by overloading the circuit.

What is a short circuit?

A short circuit occurs when current passes through a shortened path in the circuit. This shortened path may be due to the crossing or touching of uncovered portions of the wires. A short circuit decreases the resistance of the circuit. By Ohms law, when resistance approaches zero, current approaches infinity. Never plug in an appliance if the insulation of the cord is worn off. The exposed wire can give you a shock, cause a short circuit, or start a fire. When there is a short circuit, the current becomes very large and the wires become very hot. This may cause fire if materials that easily burn come in contact with the hot wires.

9. Why should house wirings be inspected regularly by electricians

There is always a limit to the amount of current that wires can safely carry. Since house wiring uses parallel connection, too many lamps and electrical appliances connected in one circuit greatly decrease the total resistance. The total current then increases and may exceed the limit that the wires can safely carry. When this happens, the circuit is said to be overloaded. Too large a current transfers too much heat. Too much heat can damage the appliances and may even cause fire. Never connect too many electrical appliances to one outlet to avoid overloading the circuit. 10. When does overloading occur?

8.5 Circuit Protector

The panel board in your home where electrical energy is distributed through different circuit contains fuses or has a circuit breaker system. Each circuit branching out from the panel is connected in series to a fuse or circuit breaker. Fuse and circuit breaker are safety devices that break the circuit whenever overload or short occurs. By breaking the circuit, accidents like overheating in the house wiring and occurrence of fire are prevented.

The picture shows the essential parts of a fuse. At the center of insulated tube is a lead strip of low melting point. This melts whenever the current through it is greater than its current rating. When the lead strips melts, the circuit breaks stopping the current. The fuse rating which is in amperes corresponds to the maximum amount of current it can carry. The thicker the lead strips inside the tube of the fuse, the higher the fuse rating. Fuses in the panel board are rated as low as 15 A to as high as 600 A. the heavier and greater the amperage of the wiring in the circuit, the heavier is the fused used. Many people feel that fuse panels should automatically be replaced with breakers. This is not so. Many fuse panels perform their functions well and are safe as long as no one tampers with the wiring or installs the wrong size fuse. If your house was built before the 70s, you probably would have fuses. If after that time, you probably would have circuit breakers.

Several electrical appliances have their own fuse installed. This prevents the appliance from being damaged in case of an overload or short in the circuit where the appliance is connected to. Although fuses and circuit breakers look differently, they serve the same function which is to protect wiring from overheating. Circuit breakers look like switches. When an overload or short takes place, the circuit breaker automatically shuts off power to the circuit. To reconnect, the circuit breaker must be reset. A circuit breaker can also be used manually to disconnect a circuit from incoming power when doing electrical repair. The picture shows a panel board with a circuit breakers. The main circuit breaker shuts off the power of the whole house. Individual circuit breakers connect to circuits throughout the house. It is advisable to label the circuits to identify easily which part of the house they serve.

11. Explain why fuses and circuits breakers are connected in series with the circuit in the panel board? If the circuit breaker trips off, it has to be reset. If a fuse burns out, it has to be replaced with a new one. Before resetting the circuit breaker or replacing the fuse, first find and correct the problem. It is useless to replace a fuse or reset a circuit breaker only to have it blown or tripped again. A fuse or breaker that continually blows or trips is a symptom of circuit overloading. When replacing a fuse, be sure that the rating is correct. Never use a coin or piece of metal to jump a blown fuse. This is very dangerous and could end in tragedy.

A multiple outlet surge protector or power strip is another common circuit protector. This device has its own circuit breaker. It can be used instead of an extension cord to plug in appliances. The circuit breaker protects the appliances plugged into its outlets. Also the multiple outlet surge protector has a larger diameter cord compared to typical extension cords. A larger diameter cord has lower resistance thus reducing the heat generated in the wire.

Another circuit protector commonly used is the ground wire. Appliances with metal casing like the refrigerator usually have this. This wire connects appliances directly to the ground. This is done so that if anything goes wrong with the appliance that results in a direct connection between the line wire and the casing, there is a still direct electrical path to the station via the

ground. If the casing were not connected to the ground (earthed), all of the current would pass through the person who touches the appliance and would result in an electrical shock.