How does electrical ground work? Why does electricity want to travel to the earth, which doesn’t seem particularly conductive?

Question

Some additional questions I have to further understanding:

Ships don’t have ground, but why couldn’t electricity on a ship ground to the ocean the same way houses ground to the earth?

A structure will have a grounding rod dug into the earth. Does the dirt, soil, and rock composition that the structure is built on affect how willing current is to use the path?

In: 77

Answer 1

Another point that some of the top comments seem to be missing is that there is also a ground terminal at the transformer where you get the power. If you’ve taken a basic circuits course you know that current needs to move in a, well.. Circuit. Most transformers that supply the power you use at home or at work are grounded transformers, meaning they have a huge conductive rod sticking in the ground that “sucks up” any current passing through a ground fault and returns it to the circuit.