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1. Safety

When there are separate wires for neutral and ground it is much less likely that a problem in electrical wiring causes a dangerous situation which will cause electrical shock or fire.

If the ground and neutral were the same conductor, the cutting only the neutral wire (for example by accident) would cause the grounded metal case of the equipment to be on mains potential just because there is only live connected to equipment and that voltage can go through the equipment to the cut neutral cable and from there to equipment case.

When ground and neutral are separate, then cut neutral causes only the equipment to stop working and no dangerous situation. If ground gets cut by accident, there is no danger caused before some equipment gets damaged. So when there is separate wires for neutral and ground, a singe wire fault (cut or short circuit to other wire) on any wire going to outlet does not cause immediate danger to the user of the equipment:

2. Minimizing the ground potential differences between outlet grounds

In an ideal separate grounding wire system there is no current flowing in ground wire network, so there is no voltage difference between grounds on different outlets. Unfortunately in real life systems there is always some current leaking to ground, but that current is very small (only probably milli amperes) compared to the current flowing on line and neutral wires (usually amperes).

If the neutral and ground were shared on same wire, the current flowing on neutral wire would easily cause a large voltage difference (up to many volts) on different outlets grounds. The ground potential on any outlet will then depend on the load current, neutral wire resistance and the mains phase it is connected to.

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13y ago

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Related Questions

How can I test a neutral wire to ensure it is functioning properly?

To test a neutral wire, use a multimeter set to measure voltage. Place one probe on the neutral wire and the other on a ground wire or metal box. A properly functioning neutral wire should show a voltage reading close to zero. If the reading is significantly higher, there may be an issue with the neutral wire.


How can I determine the location of the neutral wire in an electrical circuit?

To determine the location of the neutral wire in an electrical circuit, you can use a voltage tester or a multimeter to identify the wire that carries little to no voltage compared to the hot wire. The neutral wire is typically connected to the ground or earth in the electrical panel. Be sure to turn off the power before attempting to locate the neutral wire for safety.


What devices get a neutral wire?

All devices use two wire, the live and the neutral. These carry the current used by the device. Most devices also have an earth wire for safety, which carries no current until a fault occurs and then the fault current in the earth wire might save someone from being electrocuted.


How can I test the neutral wire in an electrical circuit?

To test the neutral wire in an electrical circuit, you can use a multimeter set to measure voltage. First, turn off the power to the circuit. Then, place one probe of the multimeter on the neutral wire and the other probe on the ground wire. If the multimeter reads a voltage close to zero, the neutral wire is functioning correctly. If there is a significant voltage reading, there may be an issue with the neutral wire.


Instead of neutral wire earth wire connected in a lamp.it will glow or not?

Well, honey, if you connect the earth wire instead of the neutral wire in a lamp, it ain't gonna glow. The earth wire is there for safety, not for powering up your light bulb. So, if you want that lamp to shine bright like a diamond, you better stick with the neutral wire where it belongs.


Can you use the earth wire between room stat and honeywell board as a neutral?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!The protective earth ground wire is only there to provide a low resistance path to ground in the event of a short circuit so as to trip the protective device. Operational current is never, under any circumstances allowed to be passed on earth ground. Use neutral for neutral and ground for ground.CONSULT A QUALIFIED AND LICENSED ELECTRICIAN !!!!


What is the color of the earth wire live wire and neutral wire?

In the US older 2-conductor house wire has a white-insulated and a black-insulated wire. The white wire is the neutral and the black is the hot wire. Newer house wire has a third bare copper wire to serve as the ground wire. Insulated ground wire has a green jacketing on it. Red wires are for switch legs. You want to be sure that whomever did the wiring didn't flip the colors around. You can do this by checking the fuse or breaker box - the white or neutral wires should all run to the multi-neutral ground bus bar and the black or hot wires should each go to their respective circuit breakers or fuse sockets. On your switches and recepticals, the gold screw is for the black, or hot wire, and the silver screw is for the neutral. The green screw would be for the ground wire. Mostly, use a qualified electrician to do any work unless you are quite handy, have all necessary tools and fully aware of all safety precautions and code requirements that may exist where you live.


What colour are not use in thr neutral wire?

green


Is instead of neutral wire can you ground it by putting the wire in to earth if yes then why is extra wire used for neutral by eleminating netrual wire cost of transmission can be reduced?

Transmission lines do not use a neutral conductor, so your question isn't actually relevant. Neutral wires are only necessary where imbalance may be large, and under some conditions current may be flowing in the neutral. Under these conditions a low impedance path (the neutral wire) is more desireable than a high impedance path (the ground). In many overhead transmission lines, a fourth or fifth wire are placed above the current carrying conductors; these are shield wires (not neutral wires) and are used to minimize outages on the line due to lightning (the lightning will strike these instead of the phase wires, these will flash over to the structures and the energy will be shorted to ground without the line having to be removed from service). When you're dealing with things that cost ~$100,000 - 2M/mile, it may be worth the added expense of a shield wire to keep it in service as much as possible.


What colors are electrical wires with number reference?

eletrical wire has 3 specif colour coding. As live wire ,neutral wire,earth wire. 1.live - red 2.neutral-black 3.earth - green. These are the specific color coding of eletrical wire.


If a receptical outlet doesn't have neutral wire where is my problem?

The receptacle that you are looking at might be a 240 volt receptacle and that is the reason, there is no neutral needed. You should be able to tell by the configuration of the blade pattern if it is rated for 240 volt operation.


What wire size for 400 amp service neutral size?

You need to look at the regulations that apply in your country. If in doubt, use a neutral wire of the same size as the live wire or wires.