You must find out the meanings of the keywords below and make a table to show your findings:

Mains supply, Electricity meter, Consumer unit, Fuse box, Ring main circuit, Live wire, Alternating current, Neutral wire.
Keyword Picture Description

ICT task

Starter
What are the these signs telling you

Chapter 7. Mains Electricity

Videos
What electricity can do to you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut7FLyk wNE4&feature=related Safety video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqegBPt yPGI&feature=fvwrel

When it goes wrong

Spot the danger

Task

List the parts of a plug Include a description of materials and colours. Which parts are insulators and conductors.

Electrical Safety
The wires which carry electricity consist of two parts: The metal wires

The plastic coating round the metal wires

The 3-pin Plug

Most electric cables normally contain three wires: The live wire. The neutral wire. The earth wire. Each of these three wires have different colours of insulation.

Two pin plug

The live wire. The neutral wire. The earth wire.

The Plug
You have to remember the names, colours, positions and jobs:
Colour of Wire Name of Wire Job of Wire Carries current into the appliance Carries current away from the appliance
Prevents electrocution

Brown Blue Yellow / Green stripes

Live Neutral Earth

Electrical Safety
Appliances have three safety devices: The fuse. The earth wire. The switch. Stop you from being electrocuted and to prevent the appliance from being damaged.

A fuse is a thin piece of wire which will melt when too much current passes through it. Example A 3A fuse will melt when the current is greater than 3A. When a fuse has blown, the wire inside it has melted.

The Fuse

The Fuse
Draw a circuit diagram of a circuit including a battery, a bulb and a fuse.

Write a description of what will happen to the bulb when the current goes too high.
Write an explanation for why the bulb goes out.

Fuse wire practical

You are going to find out which the current needed before each of the fuse wires blows.

The Earth Wire

The earth wire is needed for appliance with metal casing. If a fault causes live wire to touch casing then appliance becomes live.

Casing is attached to earth wire, current increases, fuse melts.

Double insulation
Modern appliances use insulators such as plastic as casings, rather than metal, this is so that the user can not get electrocuted

Residual Current Circuit Breakers (RCCB)

Measure current in and out . If different the RCCB will shut down the circuit.
Explain why the RCCB works faster than a fuse to protect a circuit.

What is wrong with these images

Practical Activity
Follow the worksheet to wire a three-pin plug. DO NOT PUT YOUR PLUG INTO A SOCKET

Draw a labelled diagram of the inside of the plug. Write a description for the job of each wire.

Draw a labelled diagram of the inside of the plug.

Task
Work through the worksheet: Be safe with electricity 1 Be safe with electricity 2

Revision You must be able to answer the following questions:

1. What is the colour of the earth wire in a plug? 2. Which wire should go through the fuse? 3. What is the colour of the neutral wire in a plug? 4. What safety features are there to stop you getting electrocuted ? 5. How does a fuse work?

Heating effect of current.

As we saw from the fuse wire practical as you pass current through a wire with high resistance heat is given out. This is used in many household appliances such as toaster, hair dryer and even light bulbs.

Power

Think about...

Study the table below. Decide which crane is the most powerful.
Crane Name Frippatron Enobulk Total Weight lifted (N) 2000 2800 Time taken (mins) 100 200

Write a sentence to explain your answer

Power
How much work something does AND How quickly it does it the rate

Electrical Power
Electrical appliances work to convert electrical energy into a useful energy.

Write down the type of energy that each of these appliances produce.
Give 3 more examples of appliances converting electrical energy. Explain the role of an electrical appliance in terms of energy.

Watt is the unit of power?!

James Watt 1736 - 1819

Calculating Power
The rate at which a device converts electrical energy is the POWER.
Unit of Power is watts (W) of kilowatts (kW) 1kW = 1000W

Calculating Power
Current and Voltage affect what happens and how quickly it happens. How?

Power = current (A) x voltage (V)

Example: What is the power of a hairdryer that uses 3A at a voltage of 230V?

P = I x V = 3A x 230V = 690W

Managing Power
A higher power rating will need a larger current.
Discuss: Why does an electric cooker (2000W) need thicker wires than a table lamp (60W)?

Practical Activity
Build a circuit to measure the current and voltage needed to work a small electrical motor. Repeat for different bulbs.

Draw a circuit diagram of your circuit and measure current and voltage.

Calculate power.
Predict what will happen to the readings of voltage and current for the motor to move faster.

Independent Activity
Power Calculations worksheet 1 Power Calculations worksheet 2

Revision You must be able to answer the following questions:

Write full sentences to answer the following questions 1. If an appliance has thick wires what does this tell you about the current it uses? 2. What does the word rate mean? 3. Two hairdryers run on 230V mains, one is labelled 3A and the other is labelled 4A. Explain which has the greater power.

Recap
A plug must be fitted with the correct fuse for the appliance. Decide which fuse rating should be used for each appliance in the table below. Choose from 3A, 5A, 13A. Appliance Tumble Drier Table Light Electric Kettle Electric Fire Current Used (A) 6.5 0.5 12 9

Recap
Spot the danger

Homework
Make a list of safety instructions about handling electricity. Include pictures to help show what you are telling people