Practical Application of Heating Effect of Electric Current & Electric Power
For exploiting the heating effect of electric current, the element of appliances must have high melting point to retain more heat. The heating effect of electric current is used in the following applications:
Electric Bulb: In an electric bulb, the filament of bulb gives light because of heating effect of electricity. The filament of bulb is generally made of tungsten metal; having melting point equal to 3380°C.
Electric iron: The element of electric iron is made of alloys having high melting point. Electric heater and geyser work on the same mechanism.
Electric fuse: Electric fuse is used to protect the electric appliances from high voltage; if any. Electric fuse is made of metal or alloy of metals, such as aluminium, copper, iron, lead, etc. In the case of flow of higher voltage than specified, fuse wire melts and protects the electric appliances.
Fuse of 1A, 2A, 3A, 5A, 10A, etc. are used for domestic purpose.
Suppose, if an electric heater consumes 1000W at 220V.
Then electric current in circuit I = P/V
Or, I = 1000 W − 220 V = 4.5 A
Thus, in this case a fuse of 5A should be used to protect the electric heater in the case of flow of higher voltage.