Name: Tips for Electrical Safety
Uploaded: 2019-07-19
Duration: 1 min 24 s
Description: Electricity, one of the most useful discoveries, results in some dangerous accidents when used carelessly. To avoid such accidents, we need to take safety pr...

Question

In normal use, a current of

3.5 A

flows through a hairdryer. Choose a suitable fuse from the following:

3 A, 5 A, 13 A, 30 A

. Explain your choice.

Accepted Answer

A fuse is a safety device which prevents electric fires and damage to electrical appliances due to excessive flow of current. A fuse consists of a short length of a thin, tin-plated copper wire having low melting point.

The steps for choosing the suitable fuse is given by:

Step $1$ : The $3 A$ fuse has a current rating that is too low, and it may blow as soon as the hairdryer is switched on.

Step $2$ : The $13 A$ fuse would not blow, but it is unsuitable because it would allow an excessive current (say, $10 A$ ) to flow, which could cause the hairdryer to overheat and may damage it.

Step $3$ : The $30 A$ fuse also would not blow, but it is unsuitable because it would allow an excessive current (say, $20 A$ ) to flow, which may overheat the hairdryer and destroy it.

Step $4$ : The $5 A$ fuse is the correct choice, because it has the lowest rating above the normal operating current.

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