Science · 6 pages · 12 min
How a circuit breaker differs from a fuse
A breaker trips a reusable switch, while a fuse protects the wire by melting once.
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From the opening
A circuit breaker differs from a fuse in the way it opens, not in the basic assignment. Both stop an overload, but the fuse destroys a metal link and the breaker unlatches a switch that can be closed again. The opening covers how a bimetal strip trips slowly, how a magnet trips on a short, and why a reset is not a new job.
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Inside
- How a bimetal strip trips slowly
- How a magnet trips on a short
- Why a reset is not a new job
- What neither one sees by itself
- Where the idea stops applying
- A distinction worth keeping
Sources
- Thermal and magnetic tripping inside a circuit breaker
- A fuse as a one-time melting link on the same overcurrent task