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Home · IGCSE 0625 · Electricity and magnetism · Electrical hazards · Practice
Core · Practice questions · Electrical hazards

Shock, fire, and safety.

Six original Cambridge-style questions on electrical hazards: identifying them, sorting shock from fire, explaining the danger, and stating how to make a situation safe.

Original questions All questions on this page are original work, written in the Cambridge IGCSE style. They are not from past papers. They test the same concepts and skills the syllabus rewards.
The hazards examiners ask about

Touch a live wire, or let it get hot.

01
Recall
[3 marks]

List three electrical hazards that can occur in the home.

Any three of: ✓✓✓

  • damaged insulation (bare wires)
  • overheating of cables
  • damp or wet conditions near electrics
  • overloading a socket with too many appliances
02
Application
[2 marks]

A cable has a section where the plastic insulation has worn away, leaving the metal wire exposed. State the main danger and explain why.

  • The main danger is an electric shock. ✓
  • The bare live wire can be touched, so current can pass through a person. ✓
03
Application
[2 marks]

An extension lead is left tightly wound on its reel while a powerful heater is run from it. State the main danger and explain why coiling the cable makes it worse.

  • The main danger is a fire (overheating). ✓
  • The current heats the cable, and a tightly coiled cable cannot lose its heat to the surroundings, so it gets hotter. ✓
04
Application
[2 marks]

Explain why it is dangerous to touch an electrical switch with wet hands.

  • Water conducts electricity. ✓
  • Wet hands provide an easy path for current to pass through the person, increasing the risk of a shock. ✓
05
Analysis
[3 marks]

Several high-power appliances are plugged into one multiway adaptor. State the hazard, the main danger, and one way to make it safe.

  • Hazard: the socket is overloaded. ✓
  • Main danger: fire, because the large current overheats the wiring. ✓
  • Make it safe: use separate sockets so no one socket carries too much current. ✓
06
Analysis
[2 marks]

State the purpose of a fuse or circuit breaker, and explain whether it can protect a person from a shock caused by touching a bare live wire.

  • It cuts off the current if it becomes dangerously large, protecting against overheating and fire. ✓
  • It does not reliably stop a shock from a bare wire, because a shock can occur without the current rising enough to trip it. ✓

Mark this once you have attempted all six and checked your working. It records a Practiced badge on the topic and adds a one-time bonus. Revealing the solutions alone does not count.