Ground and neutral

Common card · No. 304154

In electrical engineering, ground (or earth) and neutral are circuit conductors used in alternating current (AC) electrical systems. The neutral conductor carries alternating current (in tandem with one or more phase line conductors) during normal operation of the circuit. By contrast, a ground conductor is not intended to carry current for normal operation, but instead is present for safety: it connects exposed conductive parts (such as equipment enclosures or conduits enclosing wiring) to earth (the ground), and carries significant current only in the event of a circuit fault that would otherwise energize exposed conductive parts and present a shock hazard. In such case the intention is for the fault current to be large enough to trigger a circuit protective device that will either de-energize the circuit (via a fuse or circuit breaker) or provide a warning. To limit the effects of leakage current from higher-voltage systems, the neutral conductor is often connected to earth ground at...

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