Electricity In The Home

Question 1

how many wires do most electrical appliances contain?

Answer 1

3

Question 2

what are the wires made of?

Answer 2

a core of copper and a plastic coating

Question 3

what is the brown wire?

Answer 3

live wire

Question 4

what does the live wire do?

Answer 4

alternates between a high positive and negative voltage

Question 5

what is the blue wire?

Answer 5

neutral wire (always at OV)

Question 6

what wires does electricity normally flow through?

Answer 6

live and neutral

Question 7

what is the green/yellow wire?

Answer 7

earth wire

Question 8

what does the earth wire do?

Answer 8

for protecting the wiring and for safety

works with the fuse to prevent fuse and shocks

Question 9

what is the earth wire connected to?

Answer 9

the metal casing of the appliance and carries the electricity to the earth (away from you) if something went wrong and the live or neutral wire touched the case

Question 10

what are the four safety features of wiring?

Answer 10

the right coloured wire is connected to each pin and firmly screwed in
no bare wires showing inside the plug
cable grip tightly fastened over the cable outer layer
different appliances need different amount of electrical energy (thicker cables have less resistance so carry more current)

Question 11

what are the plug features?

Answer 11

metal parts made of copper or brass as they’re good conductors
the case, cable grip and cable insulator are made of rubber and plastic as they’re good insulators and flexible
this all keeps electricity flowing where it should