— in electrical work NEUTRAL and GROUND both seem like the same concept to me. what is the difference???

Question

edit: five year old. we’re looking for something a kid can understand. don’t need full theory with every implication here, just the basic concept.

edit edit: Y’ALL ARE AMAZING!!

In: 4172

Answer 1

Three wires go to the toaster. One wire is the hot wire. It’s always full of electricity. One wire is the neutral. When the toaster switch is OFF it has no electricity. When the switch is ON it completes a circuit and now it too, is hot.

The ground wire is not connected to these wires in any way. The ground wire is connected to the body of the toaster. A fork stuck in the toaster can touch the LIVE circuit and become an electrified FORK. The fork could kill you but the electricity takes the easy way to ground, the ground.

Both wires go to the ground. The neutral and hot wires are the active circuit. The ground wire is a safety device.