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This isn't necessarily the case. Although the earth pin of a British plug is positioned at the top, it's the opposite case in North America, where the 'ground' pin is located at the bottom!

I've heard it argued that the reason that North American plugs have their pin at the bottom is because, if the cable is dragged out of its socket due to the weight of the cable (remember cables extend horizontally from US-style plugs), then the ground pin will be the last to disconnect -but whether this is true or not, I cannot say.

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13y ago

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Is it okay to use an adapter to change a three pin plug into a two pin plug?

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