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
Not an electrician, but I watch a lot of Big Clive and this is my understanding of it. Electricity flows through a closed circuit between the connected hot/live and the neutral wires. The third ground wire connects to a metal casing or shroud or whatever that a person could touch but it usually* isn’t directly connected to the live circuit. What this does is create a direct path to ground if there is a short in the circuit, protecting the person touching the metalwork from getting shocked. This works because electricity wants to flow along the path of least resistance and human skin has a fairly high resistance compared to straight copper to ground.
* There are circuits that have the ground connected via a capacitor or something, and I’m not exactly sure how they work. I believe it has something to do with the capacitor making it hard to transmit power across unless there’s a surge.
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