Mains Electricity - Household Uses.
There are a large number of
appliances which use mains
electricity.
An appliance is a useful arrangement of electrical components.
These include cookers, heaters, lighting,
TV, radio, hi-fi and
computers.
The first two, cookers and heaters,
can use other types of energy, for example
gas.
Lighting
today is almost entirely
powered by electricity
but in the past, gas lamps and
candles were used.
The alternating
current of mains
electricity can be used directly
to power cookers, heaters and lighting,
since they all depend on the heating effect of
current passing through a
wire.
The last four, TV, radio,
hi-fi and computers,
must use direct
current electricity.
The alternating current of
mains electricity
must first be turned into direct
current by using an arrangement of diodes,
which allow electric current to flow in one
direction only.
The voltage is usually stepped down to
12 volts or less
by using a suitable transformer.
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