In: Physics
1. If you had a meter to investigate the electric power system in your home, what voltage would you measure for the electricity coming into your home? What frequency is the power coming into your home? Do all devices in your home operate at this voltage and frequency? How do you know?
2. Appliances A, B, and C consume 250, 480 and 1450 watts of power, respectively. The system voltage is 120V, and the circuit breaker is rated at 15 amps. Which combinations of the three appliances can be on at the same time, and which combinations will trip the circuit breaker? What assumptions would you have to make? What equations and data would you use?
3. Look around your home at some common appliances - a toaster, fan, space heater, television, computer, etc. Which appliances would you predict draw a lot of current to operate? Which appliances would you predict take a lot of power to operate?
Extra credit project: if you would like to investigate this, there is a device called Kill-A-Watt that can measure current, voltage, and power when electrical devices are plugged into them. Measure 10-15 devices in your home and write a mini lab report describing your data and lessons learned by taking these measurements.