I have a very basic understanding of how electricity flows, so apologies in advanced if this is a dumb question. As far as I understand, electricity comes into my house and goes to my devices, and then is returned through the neutral wire to my panel, where it goes to ground.
Why can’t that energy returning from my devices through neutral be used to continue providing power instead of just going to ground?
What I think is the answer (please correct me if I’m wrong): in order for the current to even flow, the circuit needs a path to ground
In: Physics
It doesn’t flow out of your house in the manner you think.
Think of getting power like there is a long belt between you and the power company. Literally, charged particles move down the wire, through your appliance, then back down the other wire to the power company and then back again one giant loop. This ‘belt’ of power drives electric devices, just like a physical belt would drive physical devices. If you don’t send the ‘belt’ back the power company has no belt to send you.
You can think of a power outlet as a long moving belt of power and when you plug your device into it, you are ‘attaching’ your machine to that belt to power it.
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