The heating element in an electric kettle appears to be bare metal. It might be insulated from the casing of the kettle, but why doesn’t electricity flow from the element through the water to the casing (which might be metal) and then if I touch the casing why doesn’t a current flow to earth
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Tags: bare metal, casing, earth, Electric Kettle, electricity flow, heating element
The heating element in an electric kettle is actually a very thin coiled wire , encased in a chalk like insulating material which is in turn encased in a metal tube (the element) which is earthed.
The electric current is passed through the coiled wire generating heat as it flows and the electricity in contained within the wire. In the event of a fault then the coiled wire might break out of its insulation and touch the metal tube ( the element ) which is earthed.
This will cause a very large current to flow and the fuse will be blown which will turn off the supply.
Your description of the design of the kettle would indeed be dangerous.
P.S. if you ever get a broken kettle , break up the element and you will see for yourself how the element is made up of an inner fine wire encased in insulating material which is in turn encased in a metal tube.