A circuit breaker is an electrical device used in an electrical panel that monitors and controls the amount of amperes (amps)

being sent through the electrical wiring. Circuit breakers come in a variety of sizes. For instance, 10, 15 and 20 amp breakers are used for most power and lighting needs in the typical home. Some appliances and specialty items (washers, dryers, freezers, whirlpools, etc.) will require a larger circuit breaker to handle the electrical load required to run that appliance. If a power surge occurs in the electrical wiring, the breaker will trip. This means that a breaker that was in the "on" position will flip to the "off" position and shut down the electrical power leading from that breaker. Essentially, a circuit breaker is a safety device. When a circuit breaker is tripped, it may prevent a fire from starting on an overloaded circuit; it can also prevent the destruction of the device that is drawing the electricity. While a number of older homes and buildings still use fuses to monitor the electrical load, almost every newer home has circuit breakers in the electrical panel. Fuses perform much the same duty as circuit breakers. However, circuit breakers are safer to use than fuses and easier to fix. If a fuse blows, oftentimes a homeowner will not know which fuse controls which specific power areas of the house. The homeowner will have to examine the fuses to determine which fuse appears to be burned or spent. The fuse will then have to be unscrewed from the fuse box and a new fuse will have to be installed. Circuit breakers are much easier to fix than fuses. When the power to an area shuts down, the homeowner can look in the electrical panel and see which breaker has tripped to the "off" position. The breaker can then be flipped to the "on" position and power will resume again. Please note that if a breaker continues to trip after you flip it, you may have a faulty breaker, a wiring problem, or there may be an issue with an electrical device that relies on that breaker. You should leave the breaker off and consult an electrician. The typical house these days carries either a 100 amp or 200 amp electrical service. Accordingly, the circuit breakers can be used to distribute the power properly throughout the house. Most old-time fuse boxes allotted 60 amps for an entire house. Factories, offices, and assorted other business facilities will have far greater electrical capacities. However, the power will still be distributed to a number of electrical panels (probably 200 amp panels) throughout the place of business and then distributed through 15 and 20 amp breakers to the lighting fixtures and electrical outlets. A magnetic circuit breaker is a safety device designed to cut an electrical current in the event of a power surge, thus protecting electrical equipment and circuitry from damage. Overloaded circuits, loose or faulty wiring and lightning can cause a magnetic circuit breaker to trip. There are other devices able to break a circuit during a surge or short circuit, each with its own limitations. Fuses have a filament that burns during a surge, meaning that they will not work after blowing once and have to be replaced immediately to restore power. Other commonly available circuit breakers are heat-sensitive and require a cooling period after a surge, but a magnetic circuit breaker can be reset immediately, restoring power without delay. All circuit breakers require some method of detecting the strength of an electrical current so that they can respond to a surge. Some breakers rely primarily on temperature and trip when overheated, but a magnetic circuit breaker uses an electromagnet, or solenoid, to generate a magnetic field that is used to gauge the currents strength. When the strength of the electric current increases, the solenoids magnetic field increases as well. This field pulls on a metallic lever in the breaker. This lever is held in place by a spring, and under normal conditions, the magnetic field is not strong enough to make the lever move. The magnetic circuit breaker has a rating, a preset limit on the maximum strength of current that it will allow to flow. When the current exceeds the breakers limit, the solenoids magnetic field increases to the point where it is strong enough to move the lever. The breaker trips, the contact points move apart, and the circuit is broken before any damage can be done. There no longer is any current flowing through the circuit, so the solenoid loses power as well, and losing that, it also loses its magnetic field. This means that the circuit breaker can be reset immediately. Although a magnetic circuit breaker is excellent for dealing with spikes from short circuits and large power surges, power will remain uninterrupted if a surge does not exceed a breakers limit. Prolonged low -level surges can cause equipment and circuitry to overheat, potentially causing damage to devices or causing fire. A thermal magnetic

circuit breaker addresses this danger by using a pair of metal strips that cause the breaker to trip if overheated. In many areas of the world, residential panelboards primarily use thermal magnetic circuit breakers. An electromagnet works on the principle that an electric current not only allows electrons to flow in a circuit, but also generates a small magnetic field. When a wire carrying electricity is coiled, the magnetic field becomes even stronger. Iron or steel objects surrounded by this coiled electric wire also become magnetized. This combination of electronic energy, coiled wiring and conductive metal object forms the basis of an electromagnet. It may be easier to think of an electromagnet as an electron magnet, not an electric magnet. What we're really dealing with here is the free flow of electrons in a circuit and their effects on the wire carrying them. To recreate the basic principles of an electromagnet, you will need a supply of bare copper wiring (available at local hardware stores), a D-size chemical battery and an iron or steel nail. The reaction between the metals and acid in chemical batteries causes a lot of free electrons to collect near the negative post (-), generally the end with a slight depression. If you connect the negative end of the battery with the positive post (+), all of those electrons will flow through the wire towards the positive post and eventually make their way back to the negative end. Since there is nothing blocking their path along the wire, such as a light bulb or motor, the electrons will soon stop flowing and the battery will 'die'. But the flowing electrons do more than run through the wire in a circuit. The motion of the electrons causes a slight magnetic field to form around the wire. This magnetic field is not especially strong as long as the wire remains straight. Coiling the wire in tight spirals, however, will strengthen the magnetic field many times over as the wire's surface area is condensed. The result is the basis for a working electromagnet. The coiled wire can generate a measurable magnetic field which can affect a compass reading or small iron filings, but it still needs a means to focus all of the electromagnetic energy. This is where the iron or steel nail comes in. If the wire carrying the electrons is coiled tightly around a metal capable of being magnetized, the metal itself becomes an electromagnet. As long as current continues to flow through the coiled wire from the battery or other source of electricity, the metal core will have all the power and properties of a natural magnet, including positive and negative poles and the ability to attract or repel other electromagnets. This ability to alternatively attract and repel other magnetic fields leads directly to the creation of an electric motor. The shaft of an electric motor is nothing more than coiled wires connected to a source of electricity-the precise definition of an electromagnet. As the electromagnet alternates between positive and negative polarity, it is either attracted or repelled by permanent magnets surrounding it. This causes the shaft to spin rapidly in one direction and allows the motor to perform work based on that motion. An electromagnet is at the core of every electric motor in operation today.