Electricity Flashcards
Polythene rod
Gains electrons
Perspex rod
Loses electrons
Earthing
Occurs when a charged object loses its charge to the earth through a conductor
Static electricity
A build up of electric charge that can occur on good insulators e.g plastic
AC
Alternating current changes very quickly, many times a second
DC
Direct current goes in one direction only e.g. The current from a battery
Mains supply
Is AC it flows at a potential difference of 230 Volts
The ring circuit
Made of live, neutral and earth wires. Sockets are tapped off at points along this ring circuit
Fuse
Is a safety device that prevents the circuit from overheating. It will not melt when it is too hot breaking the circuit
Circuit breaker
Is used in the fuse board of the home, and this trips, to stop the flow of current from entering the house
Live wire
Is brown and carries most electricity it is connected to the plugs fuse on the right hand side
Neutral wire
Is blue and is connected to the left hand side
Earth wire
Is a safety wire, no electricity flows in the earth wire unless the appliance it is attached to becomes “live” eg a toaster, in this case the earth wire would carry the current to the earth instead of you electrocuting yourself should you touch the toaster
Heating effect
Boil water in a kettle, immersion heater, electric cooker, fuse in plug
Chemical effect
Electroplating cheap metal with more expensive metal e.g. silver, electrolysis (splitting) of water, mobile phone battery