Science Department

UNITY SECONDARY SCHOOL

PHYSICS

CHAPTER 19: PRACTICAL ELECTRICITY

ANSWERS

NAME:_____________________( ) CLASS: _________ DATE: __________

Exercise 19A: Electric Power and Energy

1 The heating effect of electricity can be applied usefully in everyday life. Name five
appliances which make use of the heating effect of electricity.
Electric irons, kettles, cookers, toasters, immersion heater, water heater, oven
__________________________________________________________________

2 ________________
Nichrome wire is used as a heating element because it has
high
(a) a ________________ resistance,
high
(b) a _______________ melting point and
oxidise / melt
(c) it does not __________________easily even at high temperatures.

3 If V is the potential difference, I is the current, R is the resistance and t is the time
taken, write down the equation for electrical power released P in terms of
VI
(a) V and I: P = _____________

I 2R
(b) I and R: P = _____________
V2
R
(c) V and R: P = _____________

4 Complete the following table:

Appliance Voltage Current Resistance Power
Lamp 240 V 0.25 A 960 Ω 60 W
Television 240 V 1A 240 Ω 240 W
Kettle 240 V 8A 30 Ω 1920 W

5 Write down, in symbol form, the three equations relating the electrical energy E,
current I, voltage V, time t and the electrical resistance R of a heater coil.
VIt
(a) E = __________________

I 2 Rt
(b) E = __________________
V2
t
R
(c) E = _________________

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6 The current flowing through a 20 Ω resistor is 4 A. How much electrical power is

used?

P = I 2 R = 4 2 × 20
= 320 W

7 20 Christmas tree lights, each rated at 12 V, 6 W are joined in series and operated
by a 240 V mains supply. Calculate

(a) the total power used,

P = 20 × 6 = 120W

(b) the resistance of each bulb, V2

P=
R
V 2 12 2
R= = = 24 Ω
P 6
(c) the current flowing through the series circuit.

P = VI
P 6
I = = = 0 .5 A
V 12

8 A portable tape-recorder is rated at 12 W, 2 A. How many 1.5 V batteries are

needed in the tape-recorder?
P = VI
P 12
V = = = 6V
I 2
6
No . of batt = =4
1 .5

9 A light bulb rated 0.9 W and 3 V is switched on for 30 minutes. Calculate the
amount of electrical energy generated.

E = Pt
= 0.9 × 30 × 60
= 1620 J

10 A 5 kW immersion heater is used to heat water for a bath. It takes 30 minutes to

heat up the water. How much electrical energy has been converted into thermal
energy?
E = Pt
= 5000 × 30 × 60
= 9000000 J
= 9 MJ

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11 A 60 W fluorescent lamp converts half the electrical energy it uses into light energy.
How much light energy does it give out in 20 s?

E = Pt
= 30 × 20
= 600 J

12 Explain what is meant by electric kettle having a rating of ‘240 V, 3000 W’.

It means that the kettle requires a potential difference of 240V for it to work normally.
__________________________________________________________________

When it is working normally, it uses 3000J of electrical energy in 1 sec.

__________________________________________________________________

13 A lamp is labelled ‘230 V, 100 W’. How many joules of electrical energy are
changed to heat and light if it is switched on for 2 hours?
E = Pt
= 100 × 2 × 3600
= 720000 J

14 An electric iron is labelled ‘240 V, 1 kW’. Under normal working conditions, find

(a) the resistance of the heating element in the iron,

V2
P =
R
V2 240 2
R= = = 57 .6 Ω
P 1000
(b) the amount of current that will flow through the element,
P = VI
P 1000
I= = = 4.17 A
V 240

(c) the amount of heat that will be produced in 5 minutes.

E = Pt
= 1000 × 5 × 60
= 300000 J

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15 Kilowatt-hour
(a) The commercial unit (or domestic unit) of energy is the ___________________

(b) Convert 1 kWh to the SI unit of energy.

1kWh = 1kW × 1h
= 1000 W × 3600 s
= 3600000 J

16 Complete the table below to determine the energy consumed (in kWh) and the cost
of switching on the electrical appliances if electricity costs 25¢ per kWh.

Appliance Power Time Energy (in kWh) Cost

Lamp 40 W 5h 0.2 5¢
Iron 750 W 30 min 0.375 9.37¢
Kettle 2 kW 15 min 0.5 12.5¢

17 How long would it take for 50 W fan to use 1 kWh of energy.

E = Pt
E 1kWh 3600000 J
t = = = = 72000 s
P 50 50 J / s
= 20 h

18 (a) Calculate the number of units of electricity (i.e. kWh) used by a 500 W electric
iron for 4 hours.
E = Pt = 500 W × 4 h
= 0.5 kW × 4 h
= 2 kWh

(b) If one unit of electricity costs 34 cents, what is the cost of using the iron?
cos t = 2 kWh × $0.34
= $0.68

19 If 1 kWh of energy cost 35¢, how much would it cost to operate five ‘240 V, 60 W’
lamps for 50 hours?
E = Pt = 60W × 50 h
= 0.06 kW × 50 h × 5
= 15 kWh
cos t = 15 kWh × $0.35
= $5.25

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20 For a electric kettle of rating ‘240V 2kW’, calculate

(a) the current flowing through the heating element,

P = VI
P 2000 W
I = = = 8.33 A
V 240V

(b) the amount of heat produced in 10 minutes,

E = Pt = 2 kW × 10 min
= 2000 W × 10 × 60 s
= 1200000 J
= 1.2 MJ

(c) the resistance of the heating element, and

V2
P =
R
V2 240 2
R= = = 28 .8 Ω
P 2000

(d) the cost of using the kettle to heat water for 10 minutes if one unit of
electricity cost 37¢.

E = Pt = 2 kW × 10 min
10
= 2 kW × h
60
= 0.33 kWh
cos t = 0.33 kWh × $0.37
= $0.12

Chapter 19: Practical Electricity

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Science Department

UNITY SECONDARY SCHOOL

PHYSICS

CHAPTER 19: PRACTICAL ELECTRICITY

ANSWERS

NAME:_____________________( ) CLASS: _________ DATE: __________

Exercise 19B: Dangers of Electricity

1 What are the two basic dangers of electrical faults in appliances or circuits?

Fire
(a) _______________________________________________________________

(b) _______________________________________________________________
Electric Shock

2 Damaged insulation is dangerous. Describe briefly the hazards caused by

damaged insulation.
When someone accidentally touches it, there will be electric shock.
_______________________________________________________________
When the live and neutral wire touch each other, huge current will flow through.
_______________________________________________________________
This will produce a lot of heat which can start a fire.
_______________________________________________________________

3 Explain why it is dangerous to handle electrical appliance with wet hands.

When our hands are wet, the electrical resistance will be reduced.
_______________________________________________________________
Large current may flow through our body easily if we touched any electrical
_______________________________________________________________
appliances. We may get electric shock and maybe electrocuted.
_______________________________________________________________

4 Why is it not advisable to plug in too many electrical appliances into the same
power outlet, through the use of a multi-way adapter?
The weight of many plugs on an adapter can pull it partly out of the socket,
_______________________________________________________________
exposing live metal prongs and making a bad connection or we may get electric
_______________________________________________________________
shock if we were to touch it. Too many high power appliances in one socket will
_______________________________________________________________
also cause overheating of the cable and result in a fire.
_______________________________________________________________

5 What is the reason for using thick wires for appliances which require high power?

Appliances which require high power need high currents to operate them. If the wires
_______________________________________________________________
are thin, the resistance will be high and the wires may be heated so much that the
_______________________________________________________________
wire insulation is damaged and causes a fire.
_______________________________________________________________

Chapter 19: Practical Electricity

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Science Department

UNITY SECONDARY SCHOOL

PHYSICS

CHAPTER 19: PRACTICAL ELECTRICITY

ANSWERS

NAME:_____________________( ) CLASS: _________ DATE: __________

Exercise 19C: Safe Use of Electricity in the Home

1 melts
A fuse is a safety device which _____________ breaks
and _____________ the circuit
exceeds
when the current flowing in the circuit ____________ a certain value.

2 Draw the symbol of a fuse in the box.

3 A 13 A fuse is one that will melt when a ______________

current of 13 A _____________
flows
through it.

4 maximum
The rating of a fuse is the _____________ current it carries when the fuse melts.

5 Which wire must the fuse and the switch always be connected to? _____________
live

6 Calculate the current flowing through the appliances as shown in the table below.
Assume that it is connected to a mains voltage of 240 V. State the fuse rating for
each of the appliances if fuses of 1 A, 3 A, 5 A, 10 A and 13 A are available.

Appliance Power Current Fuse rating

Television 240 W 1A 3A
Table lamp 100 W 0.4 A 1A
Electric iron 750 W 3.1 A 5A
Kettle 2 kW 8.3 A 10 A
Air-conditioner 2.5 kW 10.4 A 13 A

7 An electric kettle carries a current of 10 A when it is connected to a 240 V mains

supply.
(a) Calculate the power supplied to the kettle.
P = VI = 240 × 10
= 2400 W

(b) If fuses of 1 A, 3 A, 5 A, 10 A and 13 A are available, which is the best

choice?
13 A
____________________________________________________________

8 Why are switches and fuses always inserted along the live wires of circuit?
If they were inserted along the neutral wire, the appliances will still be ‘live’ when
__________________________________________________________________
switches are ‘turned off’ or when the fuses blow.
__________________________________________________________________

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9 The diagram shows a 13 A fused plug.

A
X
B

C Y

B
(a) Which of the letters indicates the live terminal? ______________________

(b) Which terminal is connected to the earth wire? ________________________

A

(c) Which of the letters indicates the neutral terminal? ______________________

C
blue
(d) What is the colour of the wire connected to the neutral terminal? ___________

brown
(e) What is the colour of the wire connected to the live terminal? ______________

(f) What is the colour of the wire connected to the earth terminal? ____________
Yellow & green

fuse
(g) What is connected between X and Y? ________________________________

Cable grip
(h) Name the part labelled Z. _________________________________________

(i) What are the purposes of the live, earth and neutral wires?

To cause charges to flow whenever the potential of the live wire

(i) Live wire: ____________________________________________________

varies between +240 V and -240 V.

____________________________________________________
When the electric iron becomes ‘live’, the earth wire draws a leakage
(ii) Earth wire: ___________________________________________________
current through its low resistance path. This breaks the fuse and
___________________________________________________
isolates the electrical appliance, thus preventing electric shock.
___________________________________________________

To provide an earth potential (i.e., 0V)

(iii) Neutral wire: _________________________________________________

__________________________________________________

(j) What are the voltages between

(i) 0V
the earth and neutral conductors ______________________________

(ii) 240 V
the live and neutral conductors _______________________________

(iii) 240 V
the earth and the live conductors ______________________________

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10 The figure shows the three conductors of a 240 V a.c. supply cable and a heating
device.

(a) Complete the figure to show how a fuse and a switch can be connected to the
supply.

live lead
240 V
neutral lead 30 Ω

earth lead

.
.

(b) Calculate the current that flows through the 30 Ω resistor in the hot-water tank.
V 240
I= = = 8A
_________________________________________________________________
R 30

(c) State the current that flows through the live, neutral wire and the earth wire if the
hot-water tank is working normally.

8A
Current in the neutral wire: _____________________
Current in the earth wire: ______________________
0A
Current in the live wire: _______________________
8A

(d) What is the earth wire used for? Describe and explain where the earth wire
should be connected in the heater.

The earth wire is used for preventing electric shock.

_________________________________________________________________

The earth wire should be connected to the casing of the heater.

_________________________________________________________________

If there is fault in the heater where there is current leakage, the casing may become
_________________________________________________________________

‘live’. If someone touches the casing, the current will flow through the person thus
_________________________________________________________________

giving him a electric shock.

_________________________________________________________________

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11 The diagram below show two possible lighting circuits, containing switches S1, S2
and two identical lamps L1, L2 to enable two rooms in a house to be lit.

L L L1
L1
S1 S1
N N

Room 1 Room 1

L2 S2
S2

Room 2 L2
Room 2

Circuit A Circuit B

(a) Which circuit is used in practice? State one reason for the choice.

Circuit A
__________________________________________________________________

The lamps can be switched on and off independently.

__________________________________________________________________

(b) Do you call the circuit that you choose a series or a parallel circuit?
Parallel Circuit
__________________________________________________________________

12 What is double insulation and how is it effective in protection against electric

shocks?

Double insulation means that the live electrical components in an appliance are
__________________________________________________________________

carefully shielded and isolated from the user. It is effective in protection against electric
__________________________________________________________________

shocks if the layers of insulation are properly installed.

__________________________________________________________________

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