They are only used in the event a ground fault. Therefore “ground” wires, unlike neutral wires or hot wires, do not carry any electrical current under normal circumstances. That alternate pathway diverts the electricity deep within the earth outside your home. Ground wires provide alternate pathways for electricity to flow in the event of a breakdown in the circuit of hot and neutral wires that normally carry the current. But what happens if there is an unexpected flow of electricity in the circuit? Ground wire
So hot wires send electricity from the power source to your appliance (or load), and neutral wires return the electricity back to the power source ( if the current is imbalanced between the two hot wires). In this case the circuit is completed by the electricity moving back and forth between the two hot wires. In the event that both hot wires are carrying the same current, the neutral wire will carry no electricity back to the power source. If, however, only one of the hot wires is carrying a current of 15 amps, the neutral wire will carry an equal 15 amps back to the power supply, completing the circuit.
When the loads on the two hot wires are imbalanced (as they usually are), the neutral wire carries the difference back to the power supply.įor example, if one of the hot wires is carrying 12.5 amps and the other is carrying 15 amps, the neutral wire will carry 2.5 amps (15 amps-12.5 amps) back to the power supply, completing the circuit.