fuses

• fuse

  thin piece of wire contained in ceramic casing
• fuse protects appliance from overheating, which could damage appliance or even start fire
• common domestic appliance fuse ratings are 3A, 5A, 10A, 13A and 30A
• if current becomes too high, wire in fuse becomes hot and melts, breaking circuit, appliance won't work unless fuse replaced
• rating of fuse depends on thickness of fuse wire
• thicker the fuse wire, higher the rating of the fuse
• if an appliance normally operates with current of 2A, no point fitting plug with 13A fuse, as appliance would overheat with currents of less than 13A
• in order to find correct fuse for an appliance, need to find the current the appliance takes using formula P = V x I