2.4.5

Electrical Safety 2

Test yourself

Electrical Safety: Earthing Metal Cases

Metals conduct electricity, so metal cases may need earthing to stop them giving us electric shocks.

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Metal cases

  • Lots of electrical appliances, such as toasters and microwave ovens, have metal casings.
  • If there is a fault in the appliance, one of the wires may touch the metal case. Metals conduct electricity, so anyone touching the case could then receive an electric shock.
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Earth wire

  • An earth wire is a low resistance wire that connects the metal case to the ground.
  • If the casing is touched by a wire inside the appliance, the current will flow through the earth wire.
  • Because the resistance of the earth wire is low, a very high current will flow through it, breaking the fuse in the device. This will stop the flow of current and make the appliance safe.

Dangers of the Live Wire

The live wire carries a large amount of electrical energy so can be dangerous.

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Dangerous even when power is off

  • A live wire can still be dangerous when the mains switch is open (i.e. the plug socket or light switch is turned off).
  • This is because it might still hold some potential difference.
  • If you touched the live wire, your body would supply a link between the supply and the ground.
    • This is an electric shock.
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Electric shock

  • An electric shock from the mains electricity supply could be fatal (could kill you).
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Connecting live wire to earth wire

  • The live wire and the earth wire can never be in contact because this would remove the safety feature of the earth wire.
  • This would also take a huge amount of current, which would overpower the fuse.
    • The fuse would melt and could explode.

Jump to other topics

1Energy

2Electricity

3Particle Model of Matter

4Atoms & Radiation

5Forces

6Waves

7Magnetism

8Astrophysics

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