In the final resource section of our study guide, we will provide an overview of some practical electrical matters – one’s around the home such as the operation of a fuse, right through to the electrical systems of your home.
Posted in 4th December, 2014 | Electronics InformationManaging Electricity
Managing Electricity
In your ASVAB Electronics Information exam, you will be asked various practical type questions – ones with validity in the here and now. You’ll be expected not only to understand the nature of the question, but also to be able to apply what you’ve hitherto learned to the question at hand. You may be asked, for example, about the distribution of electricity in the standard home. In this particular case, electricity is distributed by the fuse box, or circuit breaker box. This fuse box confers two important functions in the home: to distribute electrical current among the various circuits that make up the electrical system of the home and, second, to prevent excess current from moving into any one of these circuits.
Electric current usually travels within these simple circuits by two wire types: the black wire and the white wire. The black wire, also referred to as the hot wire, brings the current, while the white wire, also known as the grounded wire, drains it back away. Together, these wires help to form a circuit of electricity within the confines of one’s home. Electricity always wants to complete a circuit and so this electricity will try to return to the fuse box whenever it can. The white wire helps it to achieve this, though an alternative wire, known as the “bare wire” is possible if something happens to go wrong with the grounded wire. Switches, of course, turn electrical circuits on and off. In home wiring, switches control the hot side of the current.
Practical Electricity
These electrical connections, at the same time, must be sufficiently unyielding. One of the most common ways of guaranteeing this security of electrical wires is through solder. Solder is a metal often melted over connections to solidify their tightness. After all, should these connections not prove secure it may result in overheating – something that should be actively avoided in the electrical world. This melted metal called solder is used to join wires or, alternatively, connect wires to terminals. You should be aware of the significance of solder in electrical matters and what advantage it confers to these connections. Solder, after all, has appeared as an ASVAB Electronics Information question in the past and is more than likely to appear in the future.
If such heated connections manifest in the home, it will invariably result in the circuit breaker (or fuse) carrying out the same role: to break the circuit which cuts off the power. This is achieved by the circuit breaker due to the presence of an electromagnet which opens up a circuit when the current rises to an uncontrollably elevated level. In addition, a fuse contains a particular part that melts when the current grows too high. However, circuit breakers are more advantageous as they don’t need replacing – you only need to turn the switch back on. With fuses, on the other hand, they’ll need to be replaced due to the irreversible damage caused by melting.
If you find a fuse continually blows, the worst thing you could do is replace it with a larger capacity fuse. The underlying cause of the problem hasn’t yet gone away and the higher current capacity would only ignite the possibility of a dangerous fire occurring in the home. The best approach would be to invite an electrical expert into the home to determine the cause underpinning the repetitive fuse difficulties. Upon his recommendation, the cause will be fixed and either replaced with a standard capacity fuse or, if possible, its replacement with a more convenient circuit breaker form – thus averting the long-term potential for fire in the home. Managing electricity shouldn’t be underestimated with these very real risks in mind.
In the final section, we will review and summarise the most relevant points from this study guide, and where you can go from here.
Share
