— 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

Application

The neutral wire is intended to carry the return current to the panel where it is tied back into ground. The neutral wire can drift a few volts above ground at an outlet due to the voltage this return current creates down its length.

The ground wire is not intended to carry return current under normal circumstances which means that even at the farthest outlet it is always 0V and safe to touch. During a fault (something goes boom) current can flow down the ground conductor, but it should also still provide a good enough connection to all the metal you can touch to keep things at a safe voltage level even if things are going horribly wrong inside the box

Ground is always safe to touch, neutral is occasionally unsafe and therefore always shielded from touch.