SRI SRI RAVISHANKAR VIDYA MANDIR, MULUND
SUBJECT: PHYSICS
STD: X
TOPIC: HOUSEHOLD ELECTRIC CIRCUITS
The live wire and the neutral wire are the main wires through which an electric current in
domestic circuit passes. The earth wire is being used as a safety measure and it is usually
connected to a wide metal plate placed deep in the earth near the house.
The neutral and earth wires both are at the same potential.
In the ring circuit, all appliances are connected in parallel.
Overloading of an electric circuit means flow of large amount of current in a circuit beyond its
permissible current rating.
Overloading is generally caused by connecting a number of electrical appliances of high power
ratings in a single socket or in a single circuit. Sometimes, overloading may also occur due to
an accidental hike in supply voltage.
The effect of electric current due to which heat is produced in a wire when current is passed
through it is called heating effect of current or Joule heating.
Question 1: Give two reasons why a fuse must not be replaced by an ordinary copper wire.
Answer: A fuse must not be replaced with a copper wire because copper has very low resistivity and
high melting point.
Question 2: A fuse is rated 8 A. Can it be used with an electrical appliance of rating 5 kW,200V?
Answer: The safe limit of current which can flow through the electrical appliance is I=P/V=5000/200=
25 A., Which is greater than 8 A. So, such fuse cannot be used..
Question 3: Name two safety devices which are connected to the live wire of a household electric
circuit. Give one important function of each of these two devices.
Answer: Two important safety devices which are connected to the live wire of a household electric
circuit are: (a) electric fuse and (b) switch
Electric fuse is used to limit the current in an electric circuit. The switch is used to
connect or disconnect an electric appliance in an electric circuit.
Question 4: State a difference and a similarity between M.C.B and a fuse.
Answer: M.C.B. works on heating effect of current as well as magnetic effect of current whereas fuse
works only on the heating effect of current.
Both are used to protect the circuit against excess current.
Page 1 of 3
Question 5 : Will current flow more easily through a thick wire or a thin wire of the same material,
when connected to the same source? Explain.
Answer: For same material and same length, current will flow easily, (i.e., magnitude of current
flowing will be more) through a thick wire when connected to the same voltage source.
It is because cross-sectional area of a thicker wire is more and resistance is inversely
proportional to cross-sectional area. Thus, a thicker wire will offer lesser resistance and
current will flow easily.
Question 6: Why is fuse always placed in the live wire?
Answer: If the fuse is connected in the neutral wire, due to excessive flow of current, the fuse burns
and current stops flowing in the neutral wire but the appliance remains connected to the live
wire and the current continuous to flow in the appliance. If a person touches the appliance,
he /she may get severe shock.
Question 7: Why is the tungsten filament used in the bulb?
Answer: Electric bulb is based on the heating effect of the current. Tungsten filament has high
resistivity, high melting point(3000oC) and it is ductile.
Question 8: What do you understand by ’The fuse rating of a particular circuit is 5A’.
Answer: The statement, ‘The fuse rating of a particular circuit is 5 A ‘means that the circuit has a
current carrying capacity of 5 A. / or the fuse wire will melt if the current exceeds than 5 A.
Question 9: Why is electric power generated at 11000V at the power plant?
Answer: At the power plant the electric power is generated at 11000 volt(or 11 kV) because voltage
higher than this cause insulation difficulties, while the voltage lower than this involves high
current.
Question 10: What is an earthing?
Answer: The method of connecting the metal body of the appliance to a thick copper wire which in
turn, is buried deep into the earth connected to a copper plate surrounded by charcoal and
common salt is called earthing.
Question 11: Why is the copper wire originating from the metal body of any electrical appliance
connected to the earth and not anything else?
Answer: The copper wire coming from the metal body of any electrical appliance is always connected
to the earth only because it can receive any amount of electrons and yet remain at zero
potential.
{The earth is often called an electric sink}.
Page 2 of 3
Question 12: When does a fuse melt?
Answer: The fuse melt and break the electric circuit under the following conditions:
(i) Overloading due to the passage of large magnitude of current.
(ii) Short – circuiting
(iii) Due to fluctuation of current in the power supply.
Question 13: At what voltages and frequency is the a.c. supplied at our home?
Ansswer: The a.c. is supplied to our houses at 220 V of voltage and 50 Hz of frequency.
Question 14: Why is the fuse wire fitted in the porcelain case?
Answer; Porcelain is an insulator of electricity. Hence fuse wire fitted in the porcelain case.
Question 15: How does the thickness and the length of a fuse wire depend on its current rating?
Answer: The current rating of the fuse wire is directly proportional to the thickness of the fuse wire.
Higher the thickness of the wire, higher is the current rating of the fuse wire.
The current rating of the fuse wire will be independent of the length.
Question 16: Two fuse wires are rated 5 A and 20 A. Which of the two is (i) thicker, (ii) longer?
Answer:i) More the thickness of wire, more will be the current and thus more electrons can pass
through a greater area. Therefore 20 A wire will be more thicker than the 5 A wire.(ii) Both fuse wires
may be of the same length.
Page 3 of 3
