Science Chapter 8: Making use of electricity

1 Conditions of transferring electrical energy (61)

 When the energy source is the electric cells and lighting up the bulb, chemical
energy changes into chemical energy.
 There are electrons flowing around carrying energy from the battery to the bulb,
they need a complete path(circuit).
 Open circuit: incomplete circuit Closed circuit: completed circuit
 Conductor: material which allows electricity to flow through(e.g. metal)
Insulator: Opposite of conductor

2 Current, voltage, resistance (67)

Current
 The flow of electrons in the circuit
 Ampere(A): Unit for current (Ammeter to measure current)
 Black knob of ammeter->Negative pole of battery
Red knob ->Positive pole
 Lorry model
Electrons -> lorry Bulb -> people Electric cell -> food station
Electric connector -> one-way road Electric energy -> Food
 Adding more cells to the circuit increases the current
Voltage
 The electrical energy given to the electrons
 Volt(V): Unit of voltage (Voltmeter to measure voltage)
 Same connections as ammeter
 Adding more cells to the circuit increases the voltage
Resistance
 Opposition of a conductor to current
 Ohm(Ω): Unit of resistance
 Factors affecting resistance of metal wire: (for lower resistance)
1. Material used 2. Thickness(thicker) 3. Length(shorter)

3 Electric components (76)

 Circuit diagrams show how electric components are connected together
 Using straight lines and label components with their numbers
Electric
connector/

Connecting
wire
Electric cell/ Supplies energy to the electrons for them to flow around
the circuit
battery
Electric cell is the basic unit of a battery
Science Chapter 8: Making use of electricity
Light bulb Chemical energy—[cell]→Electrical energy
—[bulb]→Light/heat energy
Switch For opening/ closing a circuit

Ammeter Electric meter for measuring current through a circuit

Placed in series
Voltmeter For measuring voltage
Placed in parallel
Resistor Has fixed resistance

Connected up to change the current through the circuit

Rheostat Resistor with variable resistance
(Variable Used for controlling current
resistor) Current in -> sliding contact -> coiled wire -> current out

4 Electric circuits (82)

Series circuit
 The current passes through 1 path only
 Currents are equal at all points
Parallel circuit
 The current passes through more than 1 path (branches)
 Currents passing through the battery = Sum of currents in the branches

5 Heating effect of current (86)

 When current passes through conductor, electrical energy -> heat/light energy
 When current passing through filament in light bulb, it becomes hot/ glows at high
temperature
 Many home appliances electrical energy -> heat energy
Contain resistance wires, produce heat energy when current passing through
Fuse
 If there is fault in a circuit, the current may become large,
Damage the electrical appliances
Cause fire & kill people
 Important safety device in a circuit
 Short electric wire made of an alloy, low melting point
 Large current passing -> fuse overheats -> melts -> makes circuit open -> stops
electricity flow
 Fuse rating: maximum current to stand without melting
Science Chapter 8: Making use of electricity
Circuit breaker
 Similar to fuse, but we can reset it easily
 When current exceeds the rating, the breaker turns to “OFF”, electricity cut off

6 Household electricity (90)

 2 values marked on electrical appliance: voltage rating, electrical power rating
 Appliances should be connected to the mains(source of electricity supply) with
marked voltage rating
Socket
 Connecting the plug to the mains
 Electrical energy supplied from the power station
Plug
 Three pin plug: Earth, Neutral, Live
 Electrical energy supplied from the power station
Safety
 Avoid improper uses of plugs and sockets
1. Overload the socket 2. Use cracked plugs / sockets
3. Pull off the plug when the switch is on / by holding the cord
 Wiring on electrical appliance:
Electricity supply -> switch -> fuse -> live wire -> appliance -> neutral wire ->
electricity supply
Earthing
 Touching damaged live wire -> body become part of circuit -> current passing
through body to the ground -> electric shock
 It connects the metal case to the earth
 When damaged live wire touches the case, closed circuit is formed, protect us from
electric shock
Safety
 Overloading:
When number of branches in parallel circuit increases, the current increases.
Causing heating effect
 Short circuit:
Branch with much lower resistance -> nearly all current passes through it -> it
becomes very hot
It may overheat the cables -> cause fire

7 Electrical power
 Power rating: tells how much electrical energy transferred to the appliance in a
second
 Unit: watt (W), kilowatt (kW) (for 1 second)
 In same voltage, bulb with greater power rating is higher
 Current = Electrical power / Voltage
Science Chapter 8: Making use of electricity
Cost of electricity
 Unit: kilowatt-hour (kW h), kilowatts consumed in 1 hour
 kWh=kW x hours
 Measured by kilowatt-hour meter

8 Magnetic effect of current (104)

 Magnetic effect of coil can be increased by
Increasing the number of turns of wires in the coil
Increasing the current in the coil
Using a soft icon core
 A force can be produced by a magnet on a wire carrying an electric current
 Coil behaves like a magnet is an electromagnet.]
 When switched on, attract iron objects. When switched off, iron objects released