Fuses and Breakers> Too much electricity can blow out a bulb. It can also kill a computer or any electric appliance, and even sometimes melt wires and cause fires. For safety, most homes have either fuses or circuit breakers. When too much current flows, these devices “die” in order to cut the current. Their sacrifice prevents the current from creating a worse hazard.
Fuses are small <#5964,15><!switches>. Each fuse has a wire. Household current flows through this wire. If electric devices draw too much current, the wire melts. The circuit breaks. All current stops. To start the flow again, people can replace the blown fuse with a new one.
Circuit breakers do the same job. But they’re more modern. Too much current flips a switch off. The switch breaks the circuit. (It’s a “circuit breaker,” right?) People don’t replace the circuit breaker. They just flip the switch back on.
