In the electric equipment producing heat e.g. iron, electric heater, boiler, toaster, etc. an alloy such as Nichrome is used, not pure metals.

Question

Give scientific reasons:

In the electric equipment producing heat e.g. iron, electric heater, boiler, toaster, etc. an alloy such as Nichrome is used, not pure metals.

Answer 1

1. The working of heating devices such as a toaster and an electric iron is based on the heating effect of electric current, i.e., conversion of electric energy into heat by passage of electric current through a metallic conductor.

2. An alloy, such as Nichrome, has high resistivity and it can be heated to a high temperature without oxidation, in contrast to pure metals. Therefore, the coils in heating devices such as a toaster and an electric iron are made of an alloy, such as Nichrome, rather than a pure metal.