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In electrical engineering, ground and neutral (earth and neutral) are circuit conductors used in alternating current (AC) electrical systems. The neutral conductor receives and returns alternating current to the supply during normal operation of the circuit; to limit the effects of leakage current from higher-voltage systems, the neutral ...
United States electrical codes require that the neutral be connected to earth at the "service panel" only and at no other point within the building wiring system. Formally, the neutral is called the "grounded conductor"; as of the 2008 NEC, the terms "neutral conductor" and "neutral point" have been defined in the Code to conform to what had ...
The "local" earth/ground electrode provides "system grounding" [13] at each building where it is installed. The "Grounded" current carrying conductor is the system "neutral". [clarification needed] Australian and New Zealand standards use a modified protective multiple earthing (PME [14]) system called multiple earthed neutral (MEN).
Equipment bonding conductors or equipment ground conductors (EGC) provide a low-impedance path between normally non-current-carrying metallic parts of equipment and one of the conductors of that electrical system's source. If any exposed metal part should become energized (fault), such as by a frayed or damaged insulator, it creates a short ...
The blades of a NEMA connector are identified within the dimensional standard as follows: 'G' identifies the grounding conductor, 'W' identifies the (grounded) neutral conductor, and 'X', 'Y', and 'Z' are the "hot" line conductors. Single-phase connectors have only a single terminal identified as 'X' or two terminals, 'X' and 'Y'.
A somewhat similar system called "concentric wiring" was introduced in the United States around 1905. In this system, an insulated electrical wire was wrapped with copper tape which was then soldered, forming the grounded (return) conductor of the wiring system. The bare metal sheath, at earth potential, was considered safe to touch.
However, it is a common misconception that "hot" conductor colour-coding is required by the Code. In the United States, colour-coding of three-phase system conductors follows a de facto standard, wherein black, red, and blue are used for three-phase 120/208-volt systems, and brown, orange or violet, and yellow are used in 277/480-volt systems.
Neutral to earth voltage (NEV) specifically refers to a difference in potential between a locally grounded object and the grounded return conductor, or neutral, of an electrical system. The neutral is theoretically at 0 V potential, as any grounded object, but current flows on the neutral back to the source, somewhat elevating the neutral voltage.