Question 17Electricity & Electronics - 1st Asst/Chief

The correct answer is A) thermal trip. The thermal trip element is the most common type of circuit breaker trip mechanism featured in figure 1 of illustration EL-0033. Thermal trip elements rely on the heating of a bimetallic strip or wire to sense overcurrent conditions and trigger the circuit breaker to open the circuit. This is a simple and reliable method of providing overload protection for electrical circuits. The other answer choices are incorrect because: B) ambient compensated trip is a more sophisticated thermal trip mechanism that adjusts for changes in ambient temperature, C) shunt trip is a separate electrical signal that triggers the circuit breaker, and D) magnetic trip relies on the electromagnetic force of the overcurrent to trip the breaker, rather than thermal effects.