Class: VII

Subject:

The list of Subtopics

Symbols of Electric
Components
Heating Effect of
Electric Current

Science
Why these?

Important from
School and
Competitive
examination pointof-view

Magnetic Effect of
Electric Current
Electromagnet

Topic:

Electric Current and Its Effects

Why should I care?

This Chapter forms
a basis for higher
order concepts of
Electricity, and
Magnetic Effects of
Electric Current in
Classes IX and X.

Common Mistakes
Mistakes in circuit
diagram
representation
Heating effect of
electric current
applications in home
appliances

Home appliances
How the circuit
such as electric
breaks in an electric
iron, electric kettle
bell
etc. make use of the
heating effect of
electric current.
Earphones, hard
disks, railway
technology in
Japan, MRI
scanners and a lot
more such devices
all run on
applications of
electromagnets.

Did you know? Magicians use electromagnets in their famous Levitation act.

PONDER THIS: If you were asked to showcase a project at the National Science Fair based
on an application of Electric Current, what would it be?
Symbols of Electric Components
You already know
Components of an
electric circuit

You will learn

How to represent an
electric circuit using
standard symbols

Pg.No| 1

 Electric circuits are an easy way to represent ______________________.

Common electric components are signified using _________________.
The symbols for some regular electric components are:
Complete the table given below:
Electric Components

Symbols

Electric cell
Electric bulb
Switch in ON position

Battery
Wire
In the symbol for an electric cell, the longer line represents the
_______________________________, whereas the shorter thicker parallel line
represents the _______________________________.
What is the difference between an electric cell and a battery?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Where have you used batteries?
________________________________________________________________________
When you insert electric cells side by side, like in the picture shown below
(as in a TV remote control), the _____________________ terminal of one electric
cell is connected to _______________________ terminal of the next electric cell.

The compartment in the TV remote control (or any other device that uses
batteries), shown in the picture, which holds the cells is called the
________________________.
Pg.No| 2

Practice with circuits:

Here is a sample electric circuit and its representation using symbols.

{NOTE that in the circuit above, it does not matter what order you show the
elements in. It is important to show all elements with their correct symbols
and connected properly. The key/ switch can be placed anywhere in the
circuit. Since the lamp is glowing in the first circuit, in the second circuit
also it must be glowing. Therefore, the circuit must be closed and the switch
must be ON.}
Explain why the light bulbs will not light in the arrangements below:

Pg.No| 3

From the above exercise, we have learnt that:

When the switch is in ON position, the circuit from the positive terminal of the battery
to the negative terminal is complete. The circuit is then said to be _______________ and
the _______________ flows throughout the circuit instantly.
When the switch is in OFF position, the circuit is incomplete. It is said to be _____________
and no __________________ flows through any part of the circuit.
For any circuit to be complete, it is not sufficient for the circuit to be closed, the
circuit needs to be connected to all these components:

a battery or a cell (a source of electric power),

connecting wires,

a device (such as an electric bulb) through which the electric power may be
released as light or heat, and

a key or a switch which may be turned on and off.

PONDER THIS: In cases where there is no device, how do you know that electric
current flows through the circuit?

Pg.No| 4

Heating Effects of Electric Current

You already know

You will learn

What an electric bulb is

Principle of electric bulb

Where a fuse is used

Principle of electric fuse

You have seen and used an electric bulb before.

In the bulb there is a thin wire, called the __________________, which glows when an
electric current passes through it.

Why shouldnt we touch a lighted electric bulb?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What happens when an excess current passes through the bulb?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
You have seen your mother heating water for your warm bath by using geysers, electric
kettles or immersion rods. You have also seen her ironing your school uniform.
How do these appliances work?
How does the electricity passed through these objects convert to heat energy?
This property of electric current is called its ____________________________________.
All of these appliances contain a coil of wire, called an __________________.
The amount of heat produced in a wire depends on:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pg.No| 5

 Knowing this helps us because

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Where do we want wires that become hot and where do we want wires which do not
become very hot?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Some wires offer very little resistance, like those made of good conductors of electricity
(like silver, aluminium etc.). Those made of lesser conductors like the tungsten filament
used in electric bulbs, offer more resistance. Thus, electric work is done in overcoming
the friction, which is released as heat and light energy.
Some wires made from special materials melt quickly, resulting in
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
These wires are used for making ________________________, which are safety devices
that __________________________________________________
MCBs or _______________________________________ are also being used these days in
places of fuses.
These are ___________________________________________________________ when current
in a circuit exceeds the safe limit.
What causes overload in the circuit?
Excessive

currents

in

electric

circuits

are

caused

if

there

is

__________________________________________________, due to wear and tear of insulation

on the wires.
Also, connection of many devices ________________________________ causes overload.

Pg.No| 6

Magnetic Effects of Electric Current

You already know

Poles of magnet

Attraction and repulsion in magnets

You will learn

Magnetic effects of electric

current

A Danish physicist and chemist, Hans Christian Oersted, during a lecture, noticed that a
compass needle deflected when an electric current from a battery was switched on and off.
You already know that a compass needle is made up of a ______________________, which
aligns itself in the __________________________________________, and deflects whenever
brought near a _______________.
From this, we learn that, when _____________________________ passes through a wire, it
behaves like a ________________.
This is called the ___________________________ of electric current.
Electromagnet

You already know

You will learn

Magnetic and non-magnetic materials

Applications of electromagnets

Electric bell

You have just learnt about the magnetic effect of electric current.An electric current can,
hence, be used to make magnets.
When a current wire is wound closely around an iron nail, like a coil, and current
passed through it, some pins placed near the coil attract the nail.
This shows that the coil behaves like a ________________ when electric current flows
through it.
On switching off the current, the pins no longer attract the coil.
This shows that when the electric current is switched off, the coil
____________________________________.
Such coils are called ________________________.

Pg.No| 7

 These electromagnets can be made very strong and can lift very heavy loads. For e.g. in
cranes - where they are used to separate magnetic material from junk.
Many toys also make use of electromagnets.
Name at least two toys you know that use electromagnets and explain how they are used:

All of you have seen and used electric bells at your homes.
It makes use of an _________________________.
The circuit of an electric bell consists of:

When the iron strip is in contact with the _____________, the current flows through the
coil which becomes an ____________________________, which pulls the iron strip.
In the process, the ________________ at the end of the strip strikes the gong of the bell
to produce a sound.
Pg.No| 8

 However,

when

the

electromagnet

pulls

the

iron

strip,

it

also

______________________________________.
The current through the coil stops flowing and the coil is no longer an
_______________________________. It no longer ________________ the iron strip.
The iron strip comes back to its original position and touches the
________________________ again.
This completes the circuit. The current flows in the coil and the __________________
strikes the gong again.
This process is repeated in quick succession. The hammer strikes the gong every time the
circuit is completed.

Pg.No| 9

FORMATIVE WORKSHEETS
1.

When current flows through the coil, the iron rod is attracted downward because the
(A) Current through the coil produces a gravitational field
(B) Current through the coil produces a magnetic field
(C) Iron rod and the coil carry opposite charges
(D) Iron rod and the coil carry like charges
..............................................................................................................................................
2.

The figure shows an electromagnetic train signal. When it is switched on, the signal remains
in the upward position, whereas when it is switched off, the signal remains in the downward
position as shown in the figure.

Which part of the electromagnetic train signal is the electromagnet?

(A) A

(B) B

(C) C

(D) D

..............................................................................................................................................
3.

Steve constructs an automatic door latch as shown in the figure. When the switch is closed,
the electromagnet attracts the door latch toward itself and the door can be opened. When
the switch is opened again, the door latch comes back to its original position using the spring
attached between the core of the electromagnet and the door latch.

Steve can improve the structure of the automatic door latch by

(A) Using a wooden or plastic door latch
(B) Increasing the number of turns in the electromagnet
(C) Using glass rod as the core of the electromagnet
(D) Increasing the distance between the door knob and the electromagnet

Pg.No| 10

4.

Clarke constructs a device by passing current through a piece of long insulated wire wrapped
around an iron core. He uses this device for picking paper clips.

What is the name of the device constructed by Clarke?

(A) Electric generator

(B) Magnetic compass

(C) Electromagnet

(D) Galvanometer

..............................................................................................................................................
5.

An electric iron works on the principle of i effect of electric current. The component of an
iron that works on this principle is its ii.
The information in which alternative completes the given statements?
(A)

(B)

ii

chemical base

(C)

(D)

ii

heating base

ii

heating

element

ii

chemical element

..............................................................................................................................................

6. How many poles does an electromagnet have?

(A) One

(B) Two

(C) Three

(D) Four

..............................................................................................................................................
7. An electric fuse of 3 A rating is connected in a branchcircuit. Suddenly, a current of
amount 4 A flows through the circuit that consists of a bulb.
Which of the following events could be a possibility in the given circuit?
(A) The bulb will get fused
(B) The fuse will melt and break the circuit
(C) The fuse will absorb 1 A current and will pass 3 Acurrent only
(D) The bulb will continue to work normally getting a 4 A current
..............................................................................................................................................
8. Electric fuses are
(A) Safety devices

(B) Heating devices

(C) Switching devices (D) Controlling devices

..............................................................................................................................................

Pg.No| 11

9. Which of the following devices works on the principle of heating effect of current?
(A) Switch
(C) Electric fuse

(B) Battery
(D) Socket boardindicator

..............................................................................................................................................
10. While reading about the heating effect of current, Raju decides to list some home electrical
devices that work on that principle. He lists some devices (as shown in the given table).
His father notices that one device is listed incorrectly in the table.
Electrical device:
Electric kettle, Motor, Toaster, Geyser, Hair dryer
Whichdevice is listedincorrectlyby Raju in the table?
(A) Motor

(B) Toaster

(C) Hair dryer

(D) Electric kettle

..............................................................................................................................................
11. The given figure shows a simple circuit consisting of a bulb and a switch.

On closing the switch, the bulb will

(A) Glow
(B) Not glow
(C) Glow after some time
(D) Glow only for a short time
..............................................................................................................................................
12. The given figure shows four wires, a switch, a bulb, and a battery.

The bulb will glow when the given components are connected as
(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)

..............................................................................................................................................
Pg.No| 12

13. The given figure shows a simple circuit involving a battery, a switch, and a bulb.

If the terminals of the battery are reversed, then the bulb will
(A) Glow
(B) Not glow
(C) Glow for a short time
(D) Glow after some time
..............................................................................................................................................
14. A simple electrical circuit containing two bulbs and a battery is shown in the given
figure.

If bulb 1 fuses on closing the switch, then bulb 2 will

(A) Keep glowing

(B) Stop glowing

(C) Glow brightly

(D) Glow dimly

..............................................................................................................................................
15. The symbol for a fuse is
(A)
(C)

(B)
A

(D)

..............................................................................................................................................
16. When negative terminal of a cell is connected to the positive terminal of the next cell are
said to be in
(A) Series

(B) Parallel

(C) Both (A) and (B)

(D) Neither (A) nor (B)

..............................................................................................................................................

Pg.No| 13

CONCEPTIVE WORKSHEETS
1. A pin is placed near a wire loop, as shown in the given figure. When current flows
through the wire loop, the pin gets attracted toward the loop.

Which force attracts the pin toward the loop?

(A) Electric
(B) Magnetic
(C) Frictional
(D) Gravitational
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
2. Electromagnets are used in electrical devices because they
(A) Are cheap
(B) Are strong
(C) Have a long life
(D) Can be switched on and off
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
3. Which of the following characteristics is associated with an ideal fuse element?
(A) It should be cheap
(B) It should have very low resistance
(C) It should have a low melting point
(D) It should show the magnetic effect of current
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
4. Consider the following statements about an electric bell:
I.

An electric bell works on the principle of magnetic effect of current

II. An electric bell consists of an electromagnet

III. An electric bell produces sound continuously
Among the given statements,
(A) OnlyIis correct
(B) OnlyIIIis correct
(C) BothIandIIare correct
(D) BothIIandIIIare correct
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
Pg.No| 14

5. The given figure shows a simple electric circuit that consists of a coil of wire wounded
around an iron rod. Some iron filings are placed near one end of the rod. When the
switch is closed, some iron filings get attracted towards the rod.

The iron filingswill get attracted towards the iron rod

(A) Fora very long time
(B) As long as the current flows through the coil
(C) Until the polarity of the battery is not changed
(D) Until the sheet containing the iron filings is not removed
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
6. The given figure shows a simple circuit containing four bulbs and five switches along
with a battery.

What is theminimumnumber of switches that must be closed to light atleastone bulb?

(A) 1
(B) 2
(C) 3
(D) 4
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
7. The given figure shows a simple circuit that consists of a bulb, a battery, and two switches.

In the given circuit, when switchIis closed, the bulb will

(A) Glow

(B) Flicker

(C) Not glow

(D) Flicker after some time
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
Pg.No| 15

8. Robert constructs an electrical circuit as shown in the given figure. Four different points
are labeled asP,Q,R, andSon the wooden rod.

In the given circuit, the bulb will glow when the positive terminal of the battery is connected
to the point
(A) P
(B) Q
(C) R
(D) S
.....................................................................................................................................................................................
9. In which of the following circuits can the electrical bulb be operated using the switch in
the circuit?
(A)
(B)

(C)

(D)

Pg.No| 16