ACTIVITY A3

AIM
To assemble a household circuit comprising three bulbs, three on/off switches, a fuse and
a power source.

APPARATUS AND MATERIAL REQUIRED

Three bulbs (40 W, 220 V each), three on/off switches, a socket, a plug. a fuse of 1.0 A, flexible
connecting wires, main switch.

THEORY
1. A household circuit works on ac mains of 220 V, 50 Hz. From the mains we get two supplies of
different current ratings:
(i) Light line of 5 A for low power appliances like light bulbs, ceiling fans, fluorescent tubes, etc.
i) Power line of 15 A for heavy duty appliances like room heater, air conditioner, geysers, hot
plates, etc.

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 LAB MANUAL PHYSICS-XII

4tP,P, Pz, the powers consumed by different appliances, then the

the total
total
. . are

in the household circuit is

power (

P=P +P2 +P3t.

nSumed
Current drawn from the mains of V volts will be I = :

To protect the appliances from damage due to excessive currents, a fuse of ratino
than the normally drawn current is connected in series with the live wire from
ing 1 to 20% high
rom the
source of powe
. Ditterent appliances are connected in parallel between live and neutral utral wires. Each po
wires, Fas

provided with a separate switch in its live wire. appliangs.

nce is
4. Earth wire is a safety measure which ensures any leakage ot current to
the metallie
aPpliance keeps its potential equal to that of the earth wire (zero volt) and the
the us
metalic body of
user may an
severe electric shock. not
geta
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM

Live
wire
fuse Socket
To
mains
Earth
Neutral wire
Wire

Fig. 8 Circuit diagram for household appliances.

PROCEDURE
1. As shown in Fig. 8, connect the three bulbs and
B,, B, B3 separately in series combination with
on/off switches S,, S and S, respectively.
2. Connect these three bulb-switch combinations in
parallel across the live and neutral wires.
3. Connect fuse F of proper rating in the live wire of the circuit.
a

4. Connect a three way socket at the end of live and

neutral wires. Connect a wire from its earth
5. Insert the plug in the socket fitted on the main
pin.
electric board.
6. By pressing the switches S, S, and S, one by one, check that each bulb is switched on and ot
independently of the other.
7. Press the three switches simultaneously and note what
happens.
CONCLUSIONS
1. Each bulb functions
independently of the other through a separate switch.
2. The three bulbs can function
simultaneously with the installed fuse safely.
PRECAUTIiONS
1. The rating of the required fuse must be
determined carefully by calculating the
Current

drawn by the circuit. maN

2. Never use safety fuse of much higher rating than the current he circuit
3. The safety fuse and the on/off switches normally drawn from/oy
must be connected in
4. Take care
live wire.
while working with mains.

102