Fuses

Charged Up

Van der Graaff Generator

Fuses are used in plugs and electrical equipment.

They are made of a cylinder with metal ends around a thin wire. They are used to control the current passing through a circuit. When there is too much current passing through, the wire inside burns and then the circuit is incomplete. 

by Simon

ABOVE: There is a very thin piece of wire between the two crocodile clips. We fused the wire in two different ways: (i) we connected up lots of batteries to the wire (ii) we tried moving one contact towards the other but with only one battery (as shown).  Both times, there was too much current for the wire. We smelt burning and then the wire melted, breaking the circuit.

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