Uses of Electricity

● Electricity is used in most aspects of modern day living

● As a result, the demand for electricity as a global society is immense
● Some common uses of electricity are:
○ Heating
■ Such as plug-in heaters, electric ovens and hobs, even gas boilers
use electricity to power them
○ Lighting
■ Such as street lights, shop signs, ceiling and wall lighting, and
plug-in lamps
○ Battery charging
■ For devices such as mobile phones, tablets and laptops
○ Powering motors
■ Motors are used in machines like washing machines, tumble dryers
& hair dryers
○ Electronic systems
■ Such as TVs and games consoles

Electrical Hazards
● Mains electricity is potentially lethal – potential differences as small as 50 volts
can pose a serious hazard to individuals

Risk of Electrocution Hazzard Symbol

The risk of electrocution is indicated by hazard signs but other risks which would not be
signposted are listed below

● Common hazards include:

○ Damaged Insulation – If someone touches an exposed piece of wire, they
could be subjected to a lethal shock
○ Overheating of cables – Passing too much current through too small a
wire (or leaving a long length of wire tightly coiled) can lead to the wire
overheating. This could cause a fire or melt the insulations, exposing live
wires
○ Damp conditions – If moisture comes into contact with live wires, the
moisture could conduct electricity either causing a short circuit within a
device (which could cause a fire) or posing an electrocution risk
○ Excess current from overloading of plugs, extension leads, single and
multiple sockets when using a mains supply - If plugs or sockets become
overloaded due to plugging in too many components the heat created can
cause fires

Overloaded Extension Lead

Overloading extension cables can lead to overheating and in some cases, fires
 Mains Circuits
Mains Electricity

● Mains electricity is the electricity generated by power stations and transported

around the country through the National Grid
○ Everyone connects to the mains when plugging in an appliance such as a
phone charger or kettle
● Mains electricity is an alternating current (a.c.) supply
● In the UK, the domestic electricity supply has a frequency of 50 Hz and a
potential difference of about 230 V
○ A frequency of 50 Hz means the direction of the current changes back and
forth 50 times every second
● Mains electricity, being an alternating current, does not have positive and
negative sides to the power source
○ The equivalent to positive and negative are called live and neutral and
these form either end of the electrical circuit

Three-pin Plug & Earth Connection

UK Plug Socket & Plug

 The plug socket and inside of a three-pin plug showing the three wires and their
connections. The live and neutral wires deliver the electricity to the device. The Earth
wire is for safety

In order to protect the user or the device, there are several safety features built into
domestic appliances, including:

● Double insulation
● Earthing
● Fuses
● Circuit breakers

Insulation & Double Insulation

● The conducting part of a wire is usually made of copper or some other metal
○ If this comes into contact with a person, this poses a risk of electrocution
● For this reason, wires are covered with an insulating material, such as rubber
 Insulated Wires

The conducting part of a wire is covered in an insulating material for safety

● Some appliances do not have metal cases and so there is no risk of them
becoming electrified
● Such appliances are said to be double insulated, as they have two layers of
insulation:
○ Insulation around the wires themselves
○ A non-metallic case that acts as a second layer of insulation
● Double insulated appliances do not require an earth wire or have been designed
so that the earth wire cannot touch the metal casing

Earthing
● Many electrical appliances have metal cases
● This poses a potential safety hazard:
○ If a live wire (inside the appliance) came into contact with the case, the
case would become electrified and anyone who touched it would risk
being electrocuted
● The earth wire is an additional safety wire that can reduce this risk
 ● If this happens:
○ The earth wire provides a low resistance path to the earth
○ It causes a surge of current in the earth wire and hence also in the live
wire
○ The high current through the fuse causes it to melt and break
○ This cuts off the supply of electricity to the appliance, making it safe

Fuses & Trip Switches

● A fuse is a safety device designed to cut off the flow of electricity to an appliance
if the current becomes too large (due to a fault or a surge)

Circuit Symbol for a Fuse

The circuit symbol for a fuse - take care not to confuse this with a resistor. The wire runs
straight through the rectangle representing the fuse wire

● Fuses usually consist of a glass cylinder which contains a thin metal wire.
● If the current in the wire becomes too large:
○ The wire heats up and melts
○ This causes the wire to break, breaking the circuit and stopping the
current
● A trip switch, found in the Consumer Box (where the electricity enters the
building) does the same job as a fuse
○ When the current is too high the switch 'trips' (automatically flicks to the off
position)
○ This stops current flowing in that circuit

Choosing Which Fuse to Use

● Fuses come in a variety of sizes (typically 3A, 5A and 13A) - in order to select the
right fuse for the job, you need to know how much current an appliance needs
● If you know the power of the appliance (along with mains voltage), the current
can be calculated using the equation:
 ● The fuse should always have a current rating that is higher than the current
needed by the appliance, without being too high - always choose the next size up

Example:

● Suppose an appliance uses 3.1 amps

○ A 3 amp use would be too small - the fuse would blow as soon as the
appliance was switched on
○ A 13 amp fuse would be too large - it would allow an extra 10 amps to
pass through the appliance before it finally blew
○ A 5 amp fuse would be an appropriate choice, as it is the next size up

Electrical Energy Equation

● Everyday appliances transfer electrical energy from the mains to other forms of
energy in the appliance
○ For example, in a heater, this will transfer electrical energy into a thermal
energy store
● The amount of energy an appliance transfers depends on:
○ How long the appliance is switched on for
○ The power of the appliance
● A 1 kW iron uses the same amount of energy in 1 hour as a 2 kW iron would use
in 30 minutes
● A 100 W heater uses the same amount of energy in 30 hours as a 3000 W
heater does in 1 hour

Calculating Electrical Energy

● To calculate electrical energy use the equation

● Where:
 ○ E = energy (joules, J)
○ V = voltage (volts, V)
○ I = current (amps, A)
○ t = time (seconds, s)

Exam Tip
Remember that kilo (k) means 1000, so 1 kW = 1000 W

Electrical Power Equation

● In mechanics, power P is defined as the rate of doing work
○ The potential difference is the work done per unit charge
○ Current is the rate of flow of charge
● Therefore, the electrical power is defined as the rate of change of work done:

● Where:
○ P = power in watts (W)
○ E = energy in joules (J)
○ t = time in seconds (s)
○ W = work done in (J)
● The work done is the energy transferred so the power is the energy transferred
per second in an electrical component
● The power dissipated (produced) by an electrical device can also be written as

● Where:
○ P = power in watts (W)
○ I = current in amps (A)
○ V = potential difference in volts (V)
● Using Ohm's Law V = IR to rearrange for either V or I and substituting into the
power equation, means power can be written in terms of resistance R
 ● Where:
○ P = power in watts (W)
○ I = current in amps (A)
○ R = resistance in ohms (Ω)
○ V = potential difference in volts (V)
● This means for a given resistor if the current or voltage doubles the power will be
four times as great.
○ Which equation to use will depend on whether the value of current or
voltage has been given in the question
● Rearranging the energy and power equation, the energy can be written as:

● Where:
○ E = energy transferred in joules (J)
○ V = potential difference in volts (V)
○ I = current in amps (A)
○ t = time in seconds (s)

Exam Tip
You can use the mnemonic “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Power equals I squared R” to
remember whether to multiply or divide by resistance in the power equations.

When doing calculations involving electrical power, remember the unit is Watts W,
therefore, you should always make sure that the time is in seconds

Measuring Energy Usage

The Kilowatt Hour (kWh)
● Energy usage in homes and businesses is calculated and compared using the kilowatt
hour
● The kilowatt hour is defined as:

A unit of energy equivalent to one kilowatt of power expended for one hour

● Appliances are given power ratings, which tell consumers:

The amount of energy transferred (by electrical work) to the device every second
 Power Rating for a Kettle

This
kettle
uses between 2500 and 3000 W of electrical energy

● This energy is commonly measured in kilowatt-hour (kW h), which is then used to
calculate the cost of energy used

Calculating with kWh

● The kilowatt hour can also be defined using an equation:

● Where
○ E = energy (kWh)
○ P = power (kW)
○ t = time (h)
■ This equation is unusual because S.I. unit are not used, both energy and
power are × 103, and time is in hours, not seconds
● Since the usual unit of energy is joules (J), this is the 1 W in 1 s
○ Therefore:
 ○ Since 1 kW = 1000 W and 1 h = 3600 s

● To convert between Joules and kW h:

● The kW h is a large unit of energy, and mostly used for energy in homes, businesses,
factories and so on