In an electric room heater or electric cooking heater, the high resistance coil of wire that becomes red hot and produces heat is commonly called the ________.

Introduction / Context:
Electric room heaters and electric cooking heaters convert electrical energy into heat energy using a specially designed coil of wire. This coil has high resistance and is mounted in a safe way so that it can become very hot without melting immediately. Knowing the common name of this part is an important piece of basic physics and general knowledge about household electric appliances.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• We are talking about an electric room heater or electric cooking heater used in homes.
• Inside such a heater there is a visible or hidden coil made of high resistance wire, often nichrome.
• When current passes through this coil it becomes red hot and produces heat.
• We only need the common practical name used by electricians and users for this coil part.

Concept / Approach:
In an electric heater, electrical energy is converted into heat energy by the Joule heating effect. A wire of high resistance is chosen so that even a moderate current produces significant heating. This wire is usually coiled and mounted on an insulating support. In everyday language and in service manuals this coil is called the heating element or simply the element of the heater. The word circuit refers to the complete path of current, not the coil itself. Filament is usually used for the thin wire inside an electric bulb. Cells are sources of electrical energy, not heating parts. Therefore the correct everyday technical term here is heating element.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the part of the heater that gets hot. It is the high resistance coiled wire inside the appliance.Step 2: Recall the term commonly used by technicians. They talk about replacing a burned out heater element.Step 3: Compare with the term circuit, which means the entire path of current, including wires, switch and plug.Step 4: Compare with filament, which is the glowing wire in a bulb, not in a typical room heater.Step 5: Recognise that cells are individual electrochemical units that supply electricity, not heat by themselves.Step 6: Conclude that heating element is the correct description of the coil wire in an electric heater.

Verification / Alternative check:
User manuals and repair guides for electric heaters usually list the main spare part as heater element or heating element. When this part burns out due to overheating or overvoltage, technicians say that the heater element is gone and needs replacement. In electric cooking heaters, the spiral or coil is also described as the element. This consistent real world usage confirms that element or heating element is the proper term rather than circuit, filament or cells.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Circuit refers to the complete closed path of electric current and not to any single part such as the heater coil. Filament is the fine wire that glows in an incandescent bulb and is not the standard term for heater coils. Cells are devices that produce electricity by chemical reactions, so they are sources of energy, not heating components that convert electric current into heat. These terms do not correctly name the heater coil.

Common Pitfalls:
Sometimes students confuse the filament of a bulb with the heating coil of a heater because both become hot and may glow. However, in standard terminology, the word filament is reserved for lamps, and element is used for heaters, geysers and cooking coils. Another common mistake is to think that any part carrying current can be called a circuit, but circuit is a broader concept, not a single component. Remember that in electric heaters the correct practical term is heating element.

Final Answer:
In an electric room heater or electric cooking heater, the high resistance coil of wire is called the heating element.