1
4 Practical Electricity Assignment
1 Fig. 1.1 shows a circuit that contains a resistor connected to a power supply of 6.0 V and a lamp
L.
Fig. 1.1
The resistor has a resistance of 60 Ω. The lamp is marked 6.0 V, 0.90 W.
(a) Calculate
(i) the current in the resistor,
current = ...........................................................[2]
(ii) the current in the power supply.
current = ...........................................................[2]
(b) A second lamp is added to the circuit shown in Fig. 1.1.
The second lamp is in series with the 60 Ω resistor, but is not in series with lamp L.
(i) In the space below draw a circuit diagram of this new circuit.
The power supply, 60 Ω resistor and lamp L have been drawn for you.
[1]
(ii) The two lamps are identical. Explain why the second lamp is dimmer than lamp L. A
calculation is not required.
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..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................[1]
[Total:6]
2
2 The a.c. mains electricity system in a house consists of three wires: the live, the neutral and the
earth.
(a) (i) State the purpose of the live wire.
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................[1]
(ii) Explain why the neutral wire is needed.
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................[1]
(b) Each circuit in the house includes a fuse for protection.
(i) An electrical appliance is switched on and the current in the fuse becomes greater than
the rating of the fuse.
State and explain what happens.
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................[2]
(ii) State and explain in which of the three wires the fuse is located.
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................[2]
[Total:6]
3
3 Fig. 3.1 shows a 240V a.c. mains supply connected to a television and two lamps.
Fig. 3.1
In normal operation, the power supplied to each lamp is 40W and the power supplied to the
television is 120W.
(a) Calculate, in normal operation,
(i) the total power supplied,
power = ...........................................................[1]
(ii) the total number of kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy supplied to the circuit in 3.0 hours,
number of kWh = ...........................................................[2]
(iii) the current in each lamp.
current = ...........................................................[2]
(b) Explain why the switches are placed in the live wire and not in the neutral wire.
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.................................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................[2]
[Total:7]
4
4 Fig. 4.1 shows the fuse inside the plug of a hairdryer.
Fig. 4.1
(a) State how the fuse protects the wires in the hairdryer.
.................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................[1]
(b) The hairdryer is rated at 240V, 1500W. It is switched on.
(i) Calculate the current in the hairdryer.
current = ......................................................... [2]
(ii) Suggest a suitable current rating for the fuse.
current rating = ......................................................... [1]
(c) The hairdryer does not contain an earth wire to connect to the plug.
State the feature of the hairdryer which ensures that it is safe to use without an earth wire.
.................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................[1]
[Total: 5]
5
5 A 60W filament lamp is powered by the 240V mains electricity supply.
The lamp is switched on.
(a) Calculate:
(i) the current in the lamp
current = ......................................................... [2]
(ii) the resistance of the lamp.
resistance = ......................................................... [2]
(b) The lamp is now unplugged from the mains supply and connected in series with two 1.5V
cells. Fig. 5.1 is the circuit diagram.
Fig. 5.1
(i) State the reading on the voltmeter.
reading = ......................................................... [1]
(ii) State and explain how the resistance of the lamp now differs from the value calculated
in (a)(ii).
..........................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................[2]
(iii) When a filament lamp blows, it very often does so immediately after being switched on.
Suggest why this is the case.
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......................................................................................................................................[1]
[Total:8]