Hello,
most non low-power electric devices have a ground pin to protect if a shortcut or something happens (Correct me if I got that wrong, already)
But how does it work? As far as I know you always need a completed circuit for electricity to flow. So how is an electric circuit closed if electricity flows to the ground?
In: Physics
The protection is by connecting the metal enclosure of the device, using metal wires, to the “ground” prong of the power plug, which in turn connects via the metal pipes that surround the electrical wiring in the house, to the actual ground.
This provides a *metal* link between the device enclosure and the actual ground, so that the electricity in a short can get to the ground very easily via metal conductors.
As opposed to that electricity getting to the ground by traveling through your hands, into your body across your heart, and out through your feet, when you touch the metal box enclosure of the device.
Basically, the electricity will follow a metal path to the ground rather than through your body.
The power plant is also grounded, so once in the ground, the electricity “returns” to the power plant. You can think of it as “power plant pushes out electricity through the wires” and it normally “returns” through the wires, but if a short-to-ground happens it can “return” through the ground too.
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