7th Class Science Electric Current and Its Effects Effects Due to Movement of Electric Charges

       Effects Due to Movement of Electric Charges

Moving charged particles produce some special kinds of effect, i.e. heating effect, magnetic effect, chemical effect, etc. These effects are made useful by various electrical instruments, like, bulb, heater, fan, etc. Thus electric energy is utilized by using the effects produced by the charge particles when they move.

            Heating Effect

Charged particles have to do work to move through a substance. Substances are made up of atoms. So when charged particles move through them, they collide with the atoms of the substance. This collision changes a part of mechanical energy of electron into heat energy. Therefore, when electric charges flow through a substance, the substance gets heated. This phenomenon is known as heating effect of electricity. In other words, heating effect is the phenomenon in which electric energy changes into heat energy.

The amount of heat produced in the wire depends on the two factors:

            Amount of Current Passes through the Wire

As the amount of current passing through the wire increases, amount of heat produced in the wire also increases. And, as the amount of current passing through the wire decreases, amount of heat produced in the wire also decreases. We can therefore conclude that the amount of heat produced in the wire is directly proportional to the amount of current passing through the wire.

            The Resistance that the Wire Offer to the moving Charged Particles

The resistance of a wire depends on its nature. If the wire offers greater resistance, the higher amount of heat is produced. And if the wire offers less resistance, less amount of heat is produced. Thus, amount of heat produced in the wire is directly proportional to the resistance of the wire.

            Applications of Heating Effects of Current

There a number of electrical instruments like bulb, heater, iron etc have been prepared to utilize this heat energy produced in the wire. Bulb is used for producing light.  

           Magnetic Effect

In 1820, Hans Christian Oersted noticed a deflection of magnetic needle, placed near to the current carrying wire. He found that it was because of appearance of a force produced by current carrying conductor. Like a magnet, a current carrying conductor also applies a force on magnets when they are brought close. Thus when current passes through a wire, it acts as a magnet and produce a magnetic field. This phenomenon is called the magnetic effect of current.

           Applications of Magnetic Effects of Current

Magnetic effect of current has a number of applications. A variety of instruments like electric bells, electromagnet, fans etc. are there which work using this magnetic effect of current..