I have been in multiple classes that I needed to learn what grounding is, and I have watched lots of videos, but the thing Is I never really understood it. Pls help me I’m begging you.
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Analogy: Take a soccer ball up to the top of a ramp, and let go. What happens? The ball rolls down the ramp. Why did the ball roll down the ramp? Because you gave it potential energy, and when you released it, it went from a state of high potential energy (the top of the ramp) to a state of low potential energy (the bottom of the ramp.) That potential energy converted into kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion. In other words, you gave the ball some energy, and then the ball did some work.
Electrical current also flows from high potential energy to low potential energy. For example, a AA battery provides 1.5 volts of electrical potential. The electrons leaving the battery have energy, and can use that energy to do work (like powering a device,) just like how you gave the ball energy.
“Ground” in electricity is the reference for zero potential energy. It’s the lowest possible state, so (all things being equal) current will always flow towards ground. In buildings the electrical ground is usually a metal stake that is buried in the actual ground outside.
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