🔍 Key Concepts

• Difference between magnetic and thermal trip elements in circuit breakers • How a shunt trip is typically connected relative to the main current path • What an ambient compensated thermal element actually is (it’s still a type of thermal device)

💭 Think About

• Look closely at the symbol in figure "1": does it look more like a coil, a heater/bimetal strip, or an auxiliary device not in series with the main current path? • Ask yourself which trip element responds very quickly to high fault current versus slowly to long-term overloads. • Consider which of the listed options would normally still be drawn using the basic symbol for a thermal element.

✅ Before You Answer

• Identify whether the figure "1" element is in series with each phase conductor or wired as an external/auxiliary device. • Decide if the graphic symbol in figure "1" represents a coil/solenoid or a bimetal/heater type symbol. • Recall that ambient compensated devices are a refinement of thermal trips, and shunt trips are usually drawn as a separate coil, not as the primary trip element in series.