Ground neutral and hot wires explained. In this video we look at the difference and purpose of the ground wire, the hot wire and the neutral wire in a north american residential electrical system. We look at ground faults, GFCI, current, voltage and simple examples for each.
source/image(PrtSC): The Engineering Mindset
Ground and neutral are circuit conductors used in alternating current electrical systems. The ground circuit is connected to earth, and neutral circuit is usually connected to ground. As the neutral point of an electrical supply system is often connected to earth ground, ground and neutral are closely related. Watch the video from The Engineering Mindset for more info:
Under certain conditions, a conductor used to connect to a system neutral is also used for grounding (earthing) of equipment and structures.Current carried on a grounding conductor can result in objectionable or dangerous voltages appearing on equipment enclosures.
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So the installation of grounding conductors and neutral conductors is carefully defined in electrical regulations. Where a neutral conductor is used also to connect equipment enclosures to earth, care must be taken that the neutral conductor never rises to a high voltage with respect to local ground./wikipedia