— 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

From a circuit theory perspective there’s no reason they have to be separate wires, and they could just be the same wire instead. But from a safety perspective, if you designed the wiring that way, and the wire somehow got broken, then touching the outside of a metal appliance would shock you. By making them 2 separate wires, this doesn’t happen. You’d have to have several things broken at once, before things would start randomly shocking you.