Brightness of Bulb and Appliance Switching – Rankers Physics
Topic: Current Electricity
Subtopic: Power of Electrical Circuit

Brightness of Bulb and Appliance Switching

Assertion (A): The brightness of light bulb in a room decreases when heavy current appliance is switched on.
Reason (R): There will be no change in brightness of bulb if source is ideal and for non ideal source voltage drop across bulb decreases.
 
(1) Both (A) & (R) are true and the (R) is the correct explanation of the (A)
(2) Both (A) & (R) are true but the (R) is not the correct explanation of the (A)
(3) (A) is true but (R) is false
(4) Both (A) and (R) are false

Solution:

When a heavy current appliance is switched on, it draws a large current from the power supply. For a non-ideal source with internal resistance, this increased total current causes a larger voltage drop across the internal resistance of the source (or wiring). Consequently, the terminal voltage supplied to other devices like the light bulb decreases. A lower voltage across the bulb reduces its power output (\(P = V^2/R\)) and thus its brightness. So, Assertion (A) is true. Reason (R) correctly states that brightness remains constant for an ideal source and that voltage across the bulb decreases for a non-ideal source, which explains the dimming. Thus, Reason (R) is true and explains Assertion (A).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *