Chapter 6: Mains Electricity

Alignment with Student Book: pages 59–66

Chapter overview

This chapter introduces the idea of mains electricity. Starting with the introduction of earth, live and
neutral wiring in the home and in plugs, the chapter goes on to discuss safety features designed to
protect the user in terms of double insulation and plastic casings. Fuses are also discussed as a type
of circuit breaker.

Students will have encountered the fundamental terms of electrical current and voltage in KS3,
though they still find it challenging to define them at this stage. The heating effect of current is
discussed and its relationship with power is highlighted. There are some basic power and energy
transfer calculations which will be new to students.

Towards the end of the chapter, a.c/d.c is broached. Students will understand that electricity comes
from a power supply but will not have encountered the idea that mains electricity is a.c. due to the
way in which it is generated. Students will most likely know only about direct current through the
use of cells.

It is assumed that students will have a basic knowledge of electrical terms and be able to rearrange
equations to find a missing variable prior to starting this chapter.

What to expect

2.1 use the following units: ampere (A), coulomb (C), joule (J), ohm (Ω), second (s), volt (V) and watt
(W)

2.2 understand how the use of insulation, double insulation, earthing, fuses and circuit breakers
protects the device or user in a range of domestic appliances

2.3 understand why a current in a resistor results in the electrical transfer of energy and an increase
in temperature, and how this can be used in a variety of domestic contexts

2.4 know and use the relationship between power, current and voltage:
power = current × voltage, P = I × V and apply the relationship to the selection of appropriate fuses

2.5 use the relationship between energy transferred, current, voltage and time:
energy transferred = current × voltage × time, E = I × V × t

2.6 know the difference between mains electricity being alternating current (a.c.) and direct current
(d.c.) being supplied by a cell or battery

Students will have encountered many of the terms used in this chapter from KS3 or used in daily
language. However, their understanding of the terms may be confused or limited at this stage.
Students will find it challenging to distinguish between current and voltage and what each of these
terms represents. They will find this challenging throughout the unit.

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The safety section of the chapter is straightforward. Students will find the calculations more
challenging, especially selecting the appropriate fuse. However, with practise, students quickly
realise that using a fuse rating close to the current value is correct.

The graphical representation of d.c. and a.c. should also be relatively straightforward. Again, time
spent on graphical questions will enable students to gain confidence in this style of question.

Teaching notes

Start activities

Dangerous situations: Place a variety of dangerous electrical situations on the board – photos on a
PowerPoint work well. Students, in pairs, should identify all of the electrical hazards present. This
can then lead into a class discussion about how these issues could be prevented.

a.c./d.c.: Play an AC/DC track as students enter the room and ask students to guess the artist. They
should guess AC/DC (they usually do but if in doubt have the band’s signature photo ready on a
PowerPoint including the band’s name). Ask students about the link between the band’s name and
mains electricity. Students usually love this connection!

Plug match-up: Provide students with an unlabelled uncoloured cross section of a plug socket. Have
key points to be labelled/coloured on the plug, i.e. live – blue, earth – yellow, green – neutral brown,
fuse, etc. Once students have correctly identified each of the key features, definitions of each of
them could be placed on the board in a presentation or on cards around the room. Students must
now match up the definitions with the part of the plug they have labelled. For more advanced
students, they could write the definitions themselves and check them against the ones provided.

Units slap the board: Split the board into two. Place all the units for the topic and any other units
previously done on the board with one set on each section. Ask two students to face off. Students
stand with their back to the board. You state a quantity such as power. Students must turn around
and slap watts. The first student to do this wins and stays on. Another student comes to challenge.

Main activities

Wire up a plug: In a rotational circuit, students could get the opportunity to wire a plug. Three
separate activities in as many workstations as required. Students get into groups of two to three.
Station 1: Wiring up a plug. Use plugs that have been disconnected from appliances and tape up the
exposed end. A step-by-step guide can be placed next to the plug and all students in the group can
have a turn if time allows. Station 2: Students label up a diagram of a plug socket with all its key
features and they have to describe what each safety feature protects from. Station 3: Circuit breaker
research. Students have to write a brief description of how a circuit breaker works. They can include
a diagram if they wish. Pre-made resources for this can be created or they could use the internet or
a textbook.

Comparison of energy efficient light bulb vs filament bulb: Connect both bulbs to a joulemeter and
allow to run for 5 minutes. Using the energy readings from the joulemeter, students could be asked
to describe why the filament lamp requires more energy to produce the same intensity of light.

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CRO demonstration of electrical current: Using a cathode ray oscilloscope, connect a d.c. supply.
Students will see how the reading across the screen appears. Increase the supply voltage by adding a
second cell. How does this affect the display? This can then be repeated using a mains supply
connection. Why is the pattern like a wave form? What would happen if the voltage
increased/decreased, etc.? How would the display change if the frequency increased/decreased,
etc.?

Differentiation

Extension work could focus around how energy efficient light bulbs are constructed compared to
filament bulbs. Students could write a short piece analysing the differences and describing which of
the bulbs they think is more useful and why.

Calculations: use triangles for students who are finding rearrangement a difficulty. Providing
students with a step-by-step guide of how to tackle both sets of calculations should help.

Having fuses with different ratings available at the side of the classroom can sometimes allow
weaker students to get the concept of how different wire thicknesses allow different currents
through when they can see the wire inside the fuse.

Homework

Calculations on E = IVt and P = IV such as those on page 66 or the worksheet would be suitable.

Alternatively: fuse rating challenge – students can find ten devices from around the home with a
power rating. Using the country of residence’s supply voltage, students can calculate the current for
the device and consequently the correct fuse to use. An addition to this: students can calculate the
energy supplied to the device for 5 minutes’ use.

Possible misunderstandings

Areas for misunderstanding in this topic will come with the calculations for energy transfer. Students
often forget that time must be in seconds in order to get the correct answer. Providing a step-by-
step worked example should help, along with continued practise of examples that require
conversions from hours and minutes into seconds. Providing students with a how to convert table
also works.

Definition cards stuck up around the room which students can access also help students with
learning the difference between current and voltage. Students find understanding that current is the
rate at which energy is delivered by charge to a device and that voltage is the energy carried by each
coulomb of charge a challenge. Using demos in later chapters will reduce this confusion.

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