why are there separate neutral and ground wires for electricity when they both are connected to the same thing.
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Neutral is where the electricity is supposed to go. Ground is where the electricity is *not* supposed to go. Since neutral and ground both lead back to the earth, which electricity would always prefer to go to, there’s no way for electricity to cross from one to the other in normal operation.
This means that it’s safe to connect exposed metal parts to *ground*, so if a hot wire accidentally makes contact with the exposed metal, causing a short circuit, the electricity will continue flowing and allow the circuit breaker to trip.
If those exposed metal parts weren’t connected to *anything*, then the electricity from the shorted hot wire would wait patiently for something (or someone) conductive to touch it and provide a path to flow through.
If those exposed metal parts were connected to *neutral*, then *any other device* functioning normally on the same circuit would feed power through the exposed metal parts, and as soon as something (or someone) conductive provided a shorter path to the earth than the neutral wire, the electricity would decide to flow through them instead.
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