In an electric iron being used in a household, the plastic insulation of live wire and neutral wire in the connecting cable gets torn. Due to this, naked live wire touches the naked neutral wire directly and the electric fuse of the circuit blows off.
(a) What term is used to indicate the touching of naked live wire and neutral wire directly?
(b) When the naked wires touch each other directly, what happens to the resistance of the circuit so formed?
(c) What happens to the current flowing through the wires under these conditions?
(d) Which wire connected to the body of an electric iron protects the person using this electric iron from electric shock?

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Solution

(a) The touching of a naked live wire and a naked neutral wire is termed as short-circuiting.

(b) When the naked wires touch each other directly, the resistance of the circuit becomes negligible. That's why, short-circuiting results in a high flow of current in the circuit, which sometimes damages the electrical components.

(c) During short-circuiting, the resistance of the circuit becomes negligible. So, the current in the circuit becomes too high.

(d) The earth wire protects the person from getting an electric shock.

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